New Zealand plans to reopen in 2022

Throughout 2021, New Zealand will not reopen. The government line is now clear: Coronavirus, especially now that the Delta variant is predominant and new variants are on the horizon, must stay away from national borders. And the only way to do that is for those borders to remain closed, at least through 2021. "We are not yet in a position to fully reopen," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said during the "Reconnecting New Zealand to the World" forum. When can people return to the country, then? Probably, in early 2022.

Under what rules will New Zealand reopen?

Last August 12, Ardern spoke about the reopening of New Zealand. A reopening that should take place in early 2022, but only for fully vaccinated tourists.

Ever since he closed his country's borders in March 2020, New Zealand's prime minister has received international recognition and praise for his approach to pandemic management. New Zealand has consistently had one of the lowest infection rates in the world, with just 26 deaths and fewer than 3,000 confirmed cases. However, its borders cannot remain closed forever. And thinking about a reopening, albeit gradual, is necessary.

Rules, for those crossing New Zealand's borders, will be decided based on country of origin and status (vaccinated/unvaccinated).  Vaccinated travelers from countries deemed low-risk will be able to enter without quarantine, while vaccinated people arriving from a medium-risk country will have to undergo a period of self-isolation or reduced quarantine. Finally, travelers coming from high-risk countries, even if fully vaccinated, will have to undergo a 14-day MIQ (controlled quarantine). To prepare to manage medium risk, the government has decided to start a pilot project to organize self-isolation. In addition, these last months of the year will be used to perfect new testing systems and accelerate the vaccination campaign.

The reopening of New Zealand's borders will therefore follow several steps:

• acceleration of the vaccination campaign, opening to all age groups from September 1;
• second dose six weeks after the first, so that the population is vaccinated as soon as possible with at least one dose;
• phased approach to reopening the borders with the launch of a pilot project of self-isolation, refinement of new testing systems and checking of vaccination certificates at the border;
• In the first four months of 2022, open borders with breakdown by risk level (low, medium, high).

What about Australia?

If New Zealand, in the face of the hard line, has a positivity rate close to zero, in Australia the situation is a little different. Despite the border closure, the virus here has returned to strike. In early August, weekly cases exceeded 2,500, deaths returned, and the country chose to impose lockdowns in Sydney, Melbourne, and then also Canberra. City dwellers are only allowed to leave their homes for essential reasons, even given the very low vaccination rate (only 17% have completed the cycle). Here then, the time to reopen has not yet come.