New Zealand border will open in stages from end of February, Jacinda Ardern announces
Fully vaccinated New Zealanders and other eligible travellers from Australia will be the first people able to enter the country
New Zealand has announced it will reopen its border to visitors in stages, starting at the end of February, after its earlier plans to do so were derailed by Omicron. It will be the first time the country has opened up since prime minister Jacinda Ardern announced its snap closure in the first month of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. The country's borders have been closed, apart from a short-lived travel bubble with Australia, for nearly two years.
With Omicron's arrival, we pushed that change in border settings out - to give ourselves the chance to roll out boosters - a chance most other countries never had," Ardern said in a speech on Thursday.
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