The Government is removing the self-isolation requirements for vaccinated travellers to New Zealand and enabling Kiwis to come here from the rest of the world sooner
Cabinet has agreed that from 11:59pm on Wednesday March 2, vaccinated travellers entering New Zealand will no longer need to self-isolate on arrival.
RAT tests will be required on arrival and also on day five. All incoming travellers still need to get a pre-departure test.
If anyone returns a positive result they will be required to report it and isolate for the same period as a community case. Returnees are also asked to follow up their positive rapid antigen test with a PCR test, so that we can run whole genome sequencing and determine the variant. This will ensure that we can still keep tabs on any emerging variants and isolate cases as needed.
The Prime Minister says Kiwis in step two of the border reopening will now be able to arrive from Friday, not mid March as previously indicated.
Due to immigration processes, other non-New Zealanders who are part of step two of the government's reopening plan such as working holiday visa holders and RSE workers, will still be eligible to arrive from 13 March, but will not have to self-isolate.
Cabinet will also shortly consider bringing the other steps in the reopening plan forward, Ardern says.
Ardern says these new rules mean some arrivals will be able to get out and about in the country right away.
"As we open, all vaccinated travellers who test negative with a RAT will be able to enjoy New Zealand. We can't wait to see you."," she says.
She says the news that incoming travellers will not need to self-isolate will be welcome to many.
Unvaccinated travellers will still need to enter MIQ. Ardern says MIQ will still remain a useful tool even if it is not used to the same extent as it was in the past.
Ardern says caution has served New Zealand well, and as the country continues to move through the Omicron peak restrictions will be removed when it is safe to do so.
She says for now, the government has done what it has been advised to do.
During question time, Ardern says the early feedback from experts is that at the moment welcoming home New Zealanders will have a minimal impact but the government does want to be careful about bringing in tens of thousands of travellers in a week just as we are managing this part of the outbreak.
Prof Skegg says it is sensible to be cautious at the moment because we haven't reached the peak of the Omicron outbreak.
"We certainly wouldn't want tens of thousands of people coming in at the moment, but obviously - I think later in the year - there will be the opportunity to welcome tourists, hopefully more quickly than we envisaged."
He says that would be about safeguarding health and the economy as well.
Cabinet will also shortly consider bringing the other steps in the reopening plan forward, Ardern says.
She says the news that incoming travellers will not need to self-isolate will be welcome to many.
Ardern says caution has served New Zealand well, and as the country continues to move through the Omicron peak restrictions will be removed when it is safe to do so.
She says for now, the government has done what it has been advised to do.
During question time, Ardern says the early feedback from experts is that at the moment welcoming home New Zealanders will have a minimal impact but the government does want to be careful about bringing in tens of thousands of travellers in a week just as we are managing this part of the outbreak.
Prof Skegg says it is sensible to be cautious at the moment because we haven't reached the peak of the Omicron outbreak.
"We certainly wouldn't want tens of thousands of people coming in at the moment, but obviously - I think later in the year - there will be the opportunity to welcome tourists, hopefully more quickly than we envisaged."
He says that would be about safeguarding people's health and the economy as well.
Ardern says it's likely that Auckland will peak before other regions, and things are tracking more quickly than modellers first expected. She says that peak could come as early as mid-March or slightly earlier.
She says once the country is coming down the other side of that peak, and hospitalisations and cases are reducing and the health settings are more stable, that's when the government will be able to consider removing further restrictions, including at the border.
Asked whether the government should have moved faster, she says that would have meant asking experts to anticipate the situation, rather than having it before them, or moving before getting advice.
Skegg says that if the advice was sought two or three weeks ago, the advice would likely have been different.
The prime minister says we can't assume that a future variant will be less severe, which is part of the reason why the government is retaining MIQ facilities.
She says some facilities will become part of a permanent network. Ardern says the roughly 150 individuals who are eligible to go into self-isolation are essentially released from today.
Asked if the government will do anything to stop people coming from Australia and going to the protest at Parliament, Ardern says nothing will be done to prevent people's movement in New Zealand but notes that unvaccinated individuals will still have to go through MIQ.
Prof Skegg says the group has been asked to look at whether mandates are still useful, and plans to finish reviewing that within the coming weeks.
Ardern says it's hard to estimate or predict the behaviour of tourists and whether they may want to come to New Zealand.