Australia is welcoming back visitors from across the Tasman, offering some hope for hospitality businesses around the country crippled by the downturn in tourism.
The so-called ‘Green Zone’ flights between Australia and New Zealand took off yesterday, finally allowing our cousins across the ditch to fly into Australia without undergoing the two weeks hotel quarantine.
“Green zone flights from New Zealand into Australia are now judged to be sufficiently low risk, given New Zealand’s strong public health response to COVID-19,” announced Acting Chief Medical Officer Professor Michael Kidd.
A very recent outbreak in New Zealand caused Australian authorities to put the safe travel zone on hold, when three cases of the B1351 variant – widely known as the South African strain – were detected out of quarantine at Auckland’s Pullman Hotel.
On the basis that the country hadn’t recorded any new COVID-19 infections since these initial three cases, and finding all close contacts of the three cases returning negative test results, the flights were allowed to go ahead.
“The AHPPC* will continue to monitor the situation in New Zealand very closely and we will receive daily reports from the New Zealand health authorities on the results of the continuing contact tracing related to this outbreak.”
The emergence of these ‘travel bubbles’ between specific other countries is a positive step in helping the economy recover from the impact of no tourists spending on services and goods.
More than 1.2 million Kiwis typically visit Australia each year, making them the second-most populous nationality of tourist.
While the mandatory quarantine will not be required, New Zealanders will still face some precautions, most specifically screening for COVID-19 both pre- and post-flight, for ten days.
Beyond directly monitoring for symptoms of the virus, the goal of the screening is to ensure no high-risk persons enter Australia without a negative test result. This could mean anyone who is a close contact of a confirmed case, or someone who has visited any of the contact tracing areas of interest.
On advice of the AHPPC, arriving travellers must have spent at least 14 days in New Zealand society before coming to Australia – precluding any time spent in quarantine hotels.
* Australian Health Protection Principal Committee
