New Zealand to ‘pause’ travel bubble with NSW amid COVID-19 outbreak

The NSW premier has called for calm from New Zealand after the state’s two coronavirus cases triggered a pause on the trans-Tasman bubble.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has called for calm from New Zealand, labelling Jacinda Ardern’s decision to pause flights as an “overreaction”.

Ms Ardern announced yesterday that New Zealand had put a pause on all flights out of NSW, amid the state reporting two locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours.

On Thursday, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian revealed the wife of a man in his 50s, who found out he was infected on Wednesday, tested positive to the virus as well.

In response, Ms Berejiklian announced a slate of new restrictions in Greater Sydney over the next three days to minimise the chances of further cases spreading.

New Zealand health officials wasted no time announcing restrictions against NSW, just weeks after both nations opened the trans-Tasman travel bubble.

“That, to me, is an overreaction,” Ms Berejiklian told Sunrise.

“If that's what the department says they must do, that's what she does. But I certainly think the response should also be proportionate to the risk.

“You can take measures to stop a super spreading event, which is what we have done.

“We have said is if you are indoors, where the virus is more likely to spread as an event, wear a mask.

“If you are indoors at home and have people over for Mother's Day, just make sure you don't have more than 20 in the home because that could spread it to all your loved ones.”

Flights from NSW were suspended from 11.59pm last night for 48 hours.

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New Zealand has put a pause on flights in and out of NSW. Picture: Marty Melville/AFP

COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said while Sydney’s new case was not unexpected being a household contact, there were several outstanding unknowns so it was safest to pause flights, but the situation would be under constant review.

“We do acknowledge this has the potential to disrupt people’s travel,” he said.

“This isn’t a decision we take lightly.

“What you will see with cases like this...is before we move to a restriction is we will gather enough information to make an informed decision.

“Everything is based on the information you have at the time. There will always be cases that are right at the margin where you need you to gather more information...we are erring on the side of caution.”

Mr Hipkins said the pause could be extended if further information came to light and officials needed more time.

He said New Zealand had a lot of confidence in NSW’s contract tracing system and that it was one of the strongest in Australia.

“We indicated when we opened up the trans-Tasman travel bubble (that we) will continue to be cautious,we are continuing to be cautious,” he said.

The travel bubble across the ditch launched on April 19, after more than a year of travel bans in place between both countries.

Queensland have also rapidly brought in restrictions against Greater Sydney, in a swift move to keep coronavirus out of its state.

Queensland Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said from 1am Friday, May 7, anyone arriving in the state who had been to any of the venues identified by NSW Health would need to go into hotel quarantine.

“We believe these are sensible restrictions at this time and, of course, we will be watching and monitoring very closely what is happening in New South Wales,” Ms D’Ath said.

Following the announcement, many Queenslanders in Sydney reportedly immediately made plans to return home, even before the announcement was made.

Prime Minister Ardern’s advice to New Zealanders currently in NSW is to be vigilant around health messaging, record your movements and listen to updates and locations of interest.