Wellington, New Zealand
Reuters
Coronavirus restrictions in New Zealand’s largest city will be lifted this week, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday as she expressed confidence a second wave of COVID-19 infections in Auckland has been almost eliminated.
The city will move to alert level one from 11.59pm on Wednesday, joining the rest of the country, after reporting no new cases in the Auckland cluster for 10 consecutive days.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern participates in a televised debate with National leader Judith Collins at TVNZ in Auckland, New Zealand, on 22nd September. PICTURE: Fiona Goodall/Pool via Reuters/File photo.
“There is now a 95 per cent probability of the cluster being eliminated,” Ardern said at a news conference. “COVID-19 will be with us for many months to come. But we should still mark these milestones.”
New Zealand, a nation of five million, appeared to have stamped out community transmission of COVID-19 earlier this year following a tough nationwide lockdown that was subsequently lifted.
The renewed Auckland outbreak, detected in August, was the biggest the country had seen with 179 linked cases, prompted Ardern to reinforce restrictions in Auckland.
The easing of measures means there will be no 100 people limit on gatherings in Auckland, and no physical distancing rules in bars and restaurants.
The country recorded one new case on Monday, involving a New Zealander returning from overseas, taking its total number of confirmed cases to 1,499, including 25 deaths.
Ardern’s success in containing coronavirus has played a major part in putting her firmly ahead in polls for a general election on 17th October.
Meanwhile, New Zealanders will soon be able to travel to Australia without having to self-quarantine as COVID-19 infections slow and Canberra seeks to revive its ailing economy, Australian Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack said on Friday.
New Zealand citizens and residents would be allowed to travel to Australia’s most populous state of New South Wales and its remote Northern Territory from 16th October, without having to undergo the two-week quarantine required of Australians returning from other nations, McCormack said.
Australia closed its borders in March to all non-citizens to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, which has claimed 890 lives in the country and brought much of the economy to a standstill.
“I have just gotten off the phone with [NT] Chief Minister [Michael] Gunner who says the fish are biting and the beers are cold, and he wants to see as many of his New Zealand cousins and friends as possible,” McCormack told reporters in Canberra.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said those who travelled to Australia would have to quarantine on their return. She also said New Zealand would not open its borders to Australians for now.
The travel route will provide a badly needed boost to Australia’s economy, which shrank seven per cent in the three months ended June, the most since records began in 1959.
New Zealand tourists spent $A2.6 billion in Australia during 2019, according to government estimates.
The New South Wales capital of Sydney is Australia’s biggest tourist drawcard, while the Northern Territory boasts Outback attractions like Uluru.
McCormack said Canberra was also considering allowing residents of other countries that have no COVID-19 outbreaks to also enter Australia, although he declined to say which countries were under consideration.
Australia’s second-most populous state Victoria accounts for 90 per cent of national COVID-19 deaths and remains in partial lockdown.
