NZ scrambles to get citizens out of Victoria
The New Zealand government is preparing to repatriate potentially thousands of stranded citizens and essential workers from Victoria.
The New Zealand government is preparing to repatriate thousands of stranded citizens and essential workers from Victoria, as the pause on quarantine-free travel stretches into its second week.
On Thursday afternoon, Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins confirmed the Victorian pause on the travel bubble would be extended, but said New Zealand would continue to allow “some green zone” flights into the country even if the pause was extended.
New Zealand citizens, permanent residents, essential workers and those with humanitarian exemptions will be permitted to return under the arrangement, providing they self-isolate or return a negative test after landing.
The Ardern government expects flights to resume from 11.59pm on Tuesday, June 8, with Mr Hipkins saying the health advice is that “these travellers will be very low risk”.
“They will have done the 14 days of isolation by that point and that isolation period will have been while they were in Melbourne … this reflects the equivalent time which might have been spent in managed isolation in New Zealand.”
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