(TAN): New Zealand and Cook Islands are making “good progress” on setting up a two-way travel bubble, New Zealand Prime Minister Jachida Ardern said, adding that the possibility of Kiwis taking off for a tropical holiday this Christmas is also “not out of the question”, according to Newshub.
The negotiations for setting up a travel bubble with the pacific nation had started earlier. But resurgence of community transmission in Auckland in August had effectively put an end to the prospect, said Arden. “It was essentially the resurgence, so the fact that we had more cases in Auckland put on hold the work we were doing primarily with the Cook Islands,” she told a local radio channel.
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New Zealand has continued to report new cases of Covid-19 over the past week, but all infections were detected in new arrivals staying at managed isolation facilities.
Ardern said she spoke to Mark Brown, the prime minister of Cook Islands, to resume work on the travel bubble. However, no other Pacific nations have expressed interest in opening their borders to New Zealand at this time. “They’re keeping their [boundaries] pretty tight,” she said. “There is [a] concern because, of course, they are Covid-free – and any Covid coming into Pacific countries would be particularly devastating… at the moment, the work is being done with the Cooks, because they’re open to it.”
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Recently, a one-way travel bubble has been set up between New Zealand and some parts of Australia. Although Australia allowed the Kiwis to travel to New South Wales and the Northern Territory without being quarantined, New Zealand is yet to do the same. The requirement of 14-day quarantine for the kiwis returning from any overseas location including Australia is still in effect.
