As investigations continue into the traveller who left Perth and landed in New Zealand, the Ministry of Health warns anyone caught breaching the rules, could face jail time.

If a person is convicted of breaching the Quarantine-Free Travel requirements under the Air Border Order by not reporting to an MIQ when required, they could face a fine of up to $4,000 or six months imprisonment.

The reminder has been prompted after a person who recently flew from Australia to New Zealand, having been in Perth during the lockdown period there.

The individual flew from Perth to Sydney and then from Sydney to NZ, says a spokesperson for the Ministry of Health.

'The matter is the subject of an ongoing investigation, and there are a number of questions still to be answered about what has occurred in this situation. The answers to those questions will inform next steps in terms of any further enforcement action.

'Any person who enters New Zealand who is ineligible for Quarantine-Free Travel is required to isolate for 14 days and is subject to penalties.

'The risk to the New Zealand public from this person has been assessed to be very low.
This person's account of their movements in Perth do not have them visiting any locations of interest identified by the Western Australian authorities.

'While the public health risk has been assessed as low, it does serve as an important reminder that our response relies on accuracy and people fully complying with the safety measures that have been put in place by both countries.

'The actions of one person could jeopardise Quarantine-Free Travel with Australia for everyone.”

Vaccination update

A total of 172,564 people have received their first doses of the vaccine, an increase of 31,984 from last Wednesday's figure of 140,580, reports the Ministry.

A total of 60,024 people have received a second dose and are now fully vaccinated.

'In the past seven days to Tuesday, April 27, we administered 47,981 vaccination doses to people.

'This is slightly higher than the 47,845 vaccinations administered in the previous seven days. Overall, DHBs are tracking slightly ahead of plan.

'We are also adding to our stocks of the Pfizer vaccination. We have received around 685,620 doses into the country – enough to vaccinate more than 342,000 people with the two doses required for maximum protection.

'We have received a total of 295 applications for access to early COVID-19 vaccines for travel reasons of compassionate grounds. 124 of these were approved, 107 have been declined and 64 are outstanding. We are asked for more information from 24 of the 64 outstanding applications.

'We have also received 488 applications from Sport NZ, including Olympians and BLACKCAPs, and seven applications from MFAT for reasons of national significance.”