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Auckland residents can once again travel to Australia without having to self-quarantine upon arrival, after the Australian government declared that the city is no longer considered a Covid-19 hotspot.
On February 24, Australian officials reintroduced the 14-day quarantine requirement for any traveler who had been in Auckland in the past two weeks, following the recent outbreak of community cases.
Travelers who had not been to Auckland were allowed to travel to Australian states on quarantine-free flights, except for Queensland, which removed all of New Zealand from its list of ‘safe travel countries’ and required all travelers to complete quarantine. .
Iain McGregor / Stuff
The Australian government says Auckland is no longer considered a Covid-19 “hotspot”.
The restrictions caused Air New Zealand to suspend its quarantine-free services to Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.
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But on Tuesday night Australia’s chief medical officer Professor Paul Kelly confirmed that Auckland will no longer be considered a hotspot and that New Zealand is back on the list of safe countries.
Kelly said the situation in New Zealand has improved a lot, with minimal risk remaining from the Auckland February Cluster.
On Tuesday night, the Air New Zealand site showed that the first free quarantine flight from Auckland to Melbourne was on Friday, but the first free quarantine flight to Sydney was not until next Thursday.
There were no quarantine-free flights available between Auckland and Brisbane.
Passengers have been able to fly from New Zealand to Australia without having to self-quarantine upon arrival since October, however the deal has been suspended on several occasions due to the Covid-19 outbreaks in New Zealand.
Travelers are encouraged to visit www.smarttraveller.gov.au for up-to-date travel information.
