All vaccinated New Zealanders abroad able to enter New Zealand without isolating from Friday

The Government is relaxing border controls, enabling all vaccinated New Zealanders abroad to enter the country without going through Managed Isolation or home isolation from 11:59pm on Friday.

Travellers will have this freedom provided they return negative Covid-19 tests pre-departure, on arrival, and on their fifth or sixth day of being here.

Unvaccinated New Zealanders will still need to go into Managed Isolation.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern made the announcement on Monday. 

Under the old rules, unveiled on February 3, New Zealanders travelling from Australia were able to side-step Managed Isolation and isolate at home for seven days as of today (Monday). New Zealanders travelling from other countries were able to do so as of March 13.

So, the effective reopening of the border to all New Zealanders as of Friday is a major loosening of restrictions.

New Zealanders travelling from Australia will be able to enjoy less restrictive travel a little earlier. They will be exempt from doing home isolation from 11:59pm on Wednesday.

As for foreigners planning to come to New Zealand for work, study, business or to holiday, the Government is considering bringing forward the timeline it unveiled on February 3.

Ardern said, "The advice from our experts is that getting over the peak of Omicron should be factored into this timing."

On February 3, it said these arrivals would need to self-isolate on arrival. Now it’s saying they too will be able to go straight into the community provided they’re vaccinated and meet the testing requirements.

Under the February 3 timeline:

• Skilled workers earning at least 1.5 times the median wage and those with Working Holiday Scheme visas will be able to side-step isolation from March 13;
• Offshore temporary visa holders, international students and critical workers who don’t meet the 1.5 times the median wage test will be able to side-step isolation from April 12;
• Australians, those from countries with visa waivers and Accredited Employer Work Visa holders will be able to side-step isolation by July;
• Everyone else will be able to side-step isolation by October.

Overseas arrivals who test positive for Covid-19 using a rapid antigen test will need to get a PCR test as well, so authorities can keep tabs on which variants are coming in to the country.

Epidemiologist and advisor to the government, David Skegg, warned we need to remain cautious as we could face more threatening variants than Omicron by the end of the year.

Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said, “Professor Sir David Skegg’s advisory group acknowledges that without self-isolation there will be more travellers and therefore cases entering the community. However, as outlined in the advice these numbers will remain a very small proportion of overall cases for the foreseeable future.

“Border cases have been decreasing over the past month, both in number and as a proportion of arriving travellers. The seven-day average for border cases at the weekend was 9.4, compared with a seven-day average of around 6,700 for cases in the community.

“The border and MIQ workforce have done a phenomenal job at first keeping Covid-19 out of New Zealand and then slowing the spread once it arrived. Because of this mahi, New Zealand has one of the lowest number of deaths from Covid-19 in the world.

“Managed isolation will remain for unvaccinated New Zealanders, refugees and some community cases as needed. But it does mean we will begin to scale back some of our managed isolation capacity. I will have more to say on this in the coming weeks.”