Covid-19: Wellington returning to alert level 1

Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins and Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield. Image: RNZ.

Wellington is moving back to alert level 1 and the Trans-Tasman travel bubble pause will be lifted for some parts of Australia from Sunday night.

The capital and its wider region will leave alert level 2 from 11.59pm tonight.

Cabinet has met this morning to determine whether Covid-19 levels can change in the Wellington region, and to re-assess the pause on the trans-Tasman travel bubble.

Wellington is in the seventh day of alert level two and the travel bubble between Australia has been paused since June 26.

Wellington went to alert level two after an Australia traveller and his partner visited multiple locations around the city between June 18 and 21, they tested positive for the delta variant of Covid-19 on their return to Sydney.

The travel bubble pause will be lifted for South Australia, Australian Capital Territory, Tasmania and Victoria at 11.59pm Sunday night.

The bubble will remain paused for New South Wales, Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia.

However, those departing Australia will still be required to undergo a pre-departure test, resulting in a negative test, within 72 hours of when they are leaving Australia.

The decision to lift the alert level in Wellington has been made after another day of negative test results and no trace of Covid-19 in Wellington wastewater.

Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins says Cabinet is confident that there would have been some evidence of Covid transmission in the capital by this stage.

Hipkins confirms a further 7250 tests were processed yesterday, all with negative test results. Around 90 per cent of identified close contacts have now returned negative results.

You may also like....

2 comments

Pushing our luck

Posted on 29-06-2021 13:53 | By The Professor

NZ is seriously pushing their luck now. The country was extremely fortunate not to have been infected by the tourist from Sydney. The bubble should not be partial opened because people cannot be trusted to abide by the rules. It is only the matter of time that someone from Sydney travels to Melbourne and flies to NZ, bringing with them the Delta variant. There is too much at stake - all of Australia should be out of bounds. I also hear of talk about repatriation flights - forget it!!! Not one person who takes the risk to travel to Oz for a weekend break deserves to be rescued. They knew the risk before they went. Maybe people will think twice after this latest episode.


Phew

Posted on 30-06-2021 11:11 | By Slim Shady

Another bullet dodged lol. The lack of transmission has caused a problem. First they said it was because he was vaccinated. Then he gave it his wife, whoops. Next they said he was only infectious on the last day. But the first thing he did when he arrived was go to the chemist, whoops. We’ve now settled on “he’s not a super spreader”. Yeah, that must be it. We need another strain. This Delta one is just not up to it.


Leave a Comment


You must be logged in to make a comment.