New Zealand will keep borders closed for most of 2021

If you are traveling to New Zealand in the next few months, you will have to postpone your departure. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on Tuesday, January 26, that the country’s borders are expected to remain closed for most of the year, while it is time to gauge the global impact of the Covid-19 vaccination campaigns.

The Prime Minister of New Zealand explained that the appearance of the first contamination case this weekend in more than two months testifies to the danger posed by the SARS-CoV-2 virus to the archipelago, which has so far largely succeeded in controlling an epidemic. Since the beginning of the crisis, this country of 5 million people has had fewer than 2,000 cases and 25 deaths.

“Given the risks around the world and the uncertainty around international vaccination campaigns, we can expect our borders to be affected for much of the year.”, she told reporters.

Since March, the country’s borders have been closed to foreign travelers. Only New Zealand citizens are allowed to enter the territory.

In the absence of foreign tourists, Jacinda Ardern said New Zealand will continue to allow travel under Travel Bubbles With Australia and the Pacific countries successfully containing the coronavirus. However, she regretted the decision of her Australian neighbor to suspend the programme “bubble” Which allowed the citizens of the two countries to be exempted from quarantine, after the emergence of the local pollution situation. She is a New Zealander who recently returned from Europe and tested positive for the virus ten days after completing a two-week quarantine in a hotel.