Get Ready To Go Down Under: New Zealand To Reopen

New Zealand announced its reopening plans last week. “With 94 percent of our population fully vaccinated, and 92 percent of those over 18 now eligible for a booster by the end of February,” said Chris Hipkins, Minister for Covid-19 Response, Education and Public Service, “it’s time to shift gears in our Covid-19 response to focus on reconnection and recovery.”

Still, it won’t be a free-for-all - it’s not for nothing that the nation’s Covid policies earned it the nickname “Fortress New Zealand.” Its 5-stage reopening plan is more complicated than Australia’s, and it will be months before visitors from most of the world, including the US, can enter.

The first of the 5 stages begins February 27, when vaccinated New Zealanders and permanent residents will be able to enter from Australia - the unvaccinated will still have to go into managed isolation and quarantine, locally called MIQ. Americans will be eligible to enter in the fifth phase, scheduled for sometime in July.

And don’t expect to roam freely when you get there. Under the new rules, arrivals will have to self-isolate for 10 days after arrival and take a series of Covid tests. This may sound harsh, but it represents a big loosening of current requirement to spend those 10 days in MIQ (such as a designated hotel), at one’s own expense.

All that said, the government plans to reevaluate its policies as the situation evolves. According to the nation’s Covid-19 information site, “If New Zealand’s self-isolation period changes, such as a drop to 7 days, the self-isolation period for travellers will also change.”