New Zealand moves to reopen border but only with Cook Islands
12 December, 2020
New Zealand took tentative steps Saturday towards reopening its borders for the very first time on the Covid era, but only with the tiny Cook Islands in the South Pacific.
The government announcement built no reference to any plans for a broader expansion to take Australia, which introduced a one-way travel bubble in October allowing quarantine-free travel from New Zealand to Australia however, not vice-versa.
New Zealand has been widely praised because of its strict handling of the coronavirus which has caused just 25 deaths on a population of five million.
In a brief statement, the government explained planning was now under way for quarantine-free travel with the Cook Islands to get started in the first quarter of next year.
"It will allow people to travel easier between our two countries, while acknowledging that the priority continues to be to safeguard our populations from Covid-19," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.
It has been a lot more than three weeks since the last case of community transmission in New Zealand, and the Cook Islands are Covid free.
Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown stated the free movement of men and women between New Zealand and his country "is central to your close relationship" and integral to the Cook Islands' recovery from the coronavirus.
The Cook Islands is self-governing in "free association" with New Zealand, and therefore while it administers its own affairs, Cook Islanders are both New Zealand citizens and Cook Islands nationals.
Source: japantoday.com
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