NZ set for Oz travel bubble

New Zealand hopes to open a travel bubble with Australia by April and is working to finalize the necessary anti-coronavirus border measures, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said yesterday.

Ardern said New Zealand's cabinet had agreed "in principle" to open a trans-Tasman travel bubble in the first quarter provided there are no major coronavirus outbreaks in either country.

"It is our intention to name a date for the commencement of quarantine-free trans-Tasman travel in the new year, once remaining details are locked down," she said.

New Zealand closed its borders in March and since then all international arrivals, including Australians, have been required to undergo two weeks of quarantine.

The country has been widely praised for its strict handling of the coronavirus, which has caused just 25 deaths in a population of five million.

Ardern said she would not allow unnecessary risks to be taken to reopen travel with Australia.

She said a key consideration was how to prevent border facilities being swamped if there was a major coronavirus outbreak in Australia that prompted thousands of visiting New Zealanders to rush home.

"We'd need to make arrangements to have potentially thousands of New Zealanders brought back to New Zealand in numbers we would not necessarily be able to handle in managed isolation."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE