NZ‘s quarantine-free travel with NSW to be paused

Covid Response Minister Chris Hipkins. Image: RNZ.

Covid Response Minister Chris Hipkins has confirmed that flights from New South Wales to New Zealand will be paused from midnight tonight for 48 hours.

Speaking to media this evening, Hipkins said it had been a "finely-balanced decision" and he was aware it could disrupt people's plans for travel to or from NSW. He also warned the cessation of flights could go on longer.

"If further information comes to light that means we need to extend that, we have the ability to do that."

He said about 6000 people who have travelled from NSW in the past six days will be contacted and contact traced.

New Zealand health officials had been in talks with Australian authorities this afternoon about the community cases of Covid-19 in Sydney.

A man from Sydney's eastern suburbs with no known link to the border tested positive for the virus yesterday, while his wife tested positive today.

Hipkins said this evening that the Sydney case was likely to have come from managed isolation but that there was no obvious link as to how it got into the community.

"Sometimes it takes a wee while to identify a train of transmission.

"They will be working as hard as they can to try and identify that."

He said it was likely to have been seven or eight days since the source of infection arrived in Australia.

The NSW government announced it would to re-introduce a raft of restrictions for Greater Sydney following the cases.

Restrictions will apply until at least Monday and limit household guests to 20, make masks compulsory in indoor public venues and on public transport, and restrict aged care visitation to two people.

RNZ.

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4 comments

What a joke!!

Posted on 07-05-2021 07:21 | By The Professor

Have the Governments on both sides not learnt anything lately? People cannot be trusted to abide by the rules. The entire bubble should have been paused, and not just a single state. It was only days ago that some moron circumnavigated the rules by travelling into another state so that he could fly back into NZ. Lets wait to read the stories early next week, informing us that there has been another breach whereby someone has left NSW for another state to fly back to NZ!!


Gosh! What a surprise..!

Posted on 07-05-2021 13:08 | By morepork

Like nobody predicted it was too soon? I just hope this doesn't leak into a community outbreak for us... Prof, I agree 100%. In fact, I'd go further and close the bloody bubble entirely until both countries have at least 70% vaccinated and NO community cases.


Vaccines

Posted on 07-05-2021 16:24 | By Slim Shady

It won’t get to 70% uptake. Why would people have it when all you neurotic people want to close the border every time someone coughs. There is no incentive to be vaccinated. We are nicely wrapped up in a blanket. No need for vaccines, especially now all the lefties want to strip the patents so it can be made in Asia for ten bob. I was all set for one but if it is going to cooked up in a dodgy Asian sweatshop I think I will give it a miss. Only this week we learned that in Indonesia they were re-using nasal swabs for testing people. Well done lefties.


@Slim Shady.

Posted on 09-05-2021 14:39 | By morepork

I take your point that if the non-vaccine measures are working, there is no incentive to get vaccinated, but it will only need a few community outbreaks and consequent lockdowns to remind everyone that life under lockdown, is not so pleasant. I'm in favor of closing the borders to the tightest extent possible, WHILE vaccination proceeds. However, I agree it is arguable...


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