The Australian state of Queensland on Saturday welcomed travelers from New Zealand, who for the first time in 10 months were supposed to enter without having to quarantine.
But the first flight didn’t go according to the plan.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk reopened the state to New Zealand from 1 a.m. Saturday, saying residents would no longer need to abide by travel restrictions.
When the flight touched down in Brisbane, passengers were whisked away in busses to begin a mandatory 14 days in hotel quarantine. A spokesman for the premier said the travelers had arrived on a “red” flight, which included passengers from other countries.
“So all the passengers on that plane have to go into hotel quarantine because you had Kiwis sitting next to people from the United States, for example,” he said.
Passengers from New Zealand on the flight were told they would need to quarantine before takeoff and had the option to wait for a “green” flight with only New Zealanders aboard, he said.
Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said the first quarantine-free flight from New Zealand was due to arrive on Wednesday.
More than 200,000 New Zealanders live in Queensland, the popular destination for those wanting to escape blustery southern hemisphere winters or visit relatives in the subtropical and tropical state, making them the largest group of foreign-born residents.
The decision to lift travel restrictions came after New Zealand went 28 days without a local patient. While people from New Zealand can enter Queensland freely, they will still have to go into managed isolation or quarantine when they return home.-AP
