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‘Zero-Covid’ New Zealand outlines plan for reopening borders
- New Zealand will speed up a vaccination roll out that has only covered 23 per cent of the population so far
- Vaccinated travellers from low-risk places will eventually be able to enter the country without doing quarantine
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New Zealand on Thursday laid out its plan for reopening its borders, the latest “zero-Covid” economy to confront the difficult task of charting a path out of international isolation during the pandemic.
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Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the government would speed up its vaccine roll out this year and begin a phased reopening of the border in early 2022. Vaccinated travellers from low-risk countries will eventually be able to enter New Zealand without going into quarantine, she said.
Like other Asia-Pacific economies such as Australia, mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, New Zealand has relied heavily on tough border controls to keep the pandemic at bay. No Delta variant cases have been discovered in the community so far, and the country has recorded one of the lowest death tolls from Covid-19 in the world, with just 26 fatalities.
Residents have largely enjoyed life as normal for most of the pandemic, though a quarantine-free travel bubble with neighbour Australia was suspended last month due to rising Delta variant cases there.
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After the worst recession in decades last year, the economy has rebounded strongly, with GDP growing 1.6 per cent in the first three months of 2021.
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