New Zealand hopes to open its borders to Australia and the Cook Islands in the early months of the next year.
Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, agreed to allow travels from Australia and the Cook Islands, quarantine-free, from the beginning of 2021.
Her statement followed an announcement from two days ago to open the travel bubble between New Zealand and the Cook Islands in the first quarter of 2021.
Ardern emphasized that the number of COVID-19 cases must remain low, mainly in Australia, to avoid unnecessary risk.
The Prime Minister also said that a number of issues have to be resolved before setting up a definite date, such as how the country would handle a high number of returning citizens if there was another COVID-19 wave.
She added that it would be the New Zealand Government’s responsibility to control the contingencies.
The Australian Health Minister, Greg Hunt, was pleased by Arden’s news and said it was the first step in normalizing international travel again.
He pointed out that Australia will be ready to resume airline traffic as soon as New Zealand is ready.
New Zealanders could already travel to the majority of Australian states from last October without having to self-isolate, with Queensland being the last one to reopen its borders last week.
However, Kiwis were required to quarantine for two weeks on their return home.
As of today, New Zealand is the OECD country with the lowest number of active cases (46), and the minimum COVID-19 mortality (25 total), whereas Australia has (1,447) active cases.
This means that the situation in both of the countries is very much controlled.