‘Zero-Covid’ New Zealand outlines plan for reopening borders | South China Morning Post
▻https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3144672/zero-covid-new-zealand-outline-plans-reopening-borders
‘Zero-Covid’ New Zealand outlines plan for reopening border.
on Thursday laid out its plan for reopening its borders, the latest “zero-Covid” economy to confront the difficult task of charting a path out of international isolation during the pandemic. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the government would speed up its vaccine roll out this year and begin a phased reopening of the border in early 2022. Vaccinated travellers from low-risk countries will eventually be able to enter New Zealand without going into quarantine, she said. Residents have largely enjoyed life as normal for most of the pandemic, though a quarantine-free travel bubble with neighbour Australia was suspended last month due to rising Delta variant cases there.
But as with its “zero-Covid” peers, the country’s strategy has left it at risk of long-term international isolation and decimated key industries such as tourism and international education. Similarly to Australia and Hong Kong, New Zealand’s vaccination drive has also lagged other developed economies, with only about 20 per cent of adults fully jabbed, in part due to complacency associated with jurisdictions where the virus does not feel like an immediate threat. On Thursday, Ardern said the government would make the Pfizer vaccine available to all adults sooner than planned, with all eligible people able to book a vaccination appointment from September 1.
The government will also use the second half of this year to conduct a self-isolation trial for vaccinated New Zealanders in preparation for the gradual resumption of quarantine-free travel. From the first quarter of next year, new risk-based border settings will be introduced that establish low, medium and high-risk pathways into the country. The pathway a traveller takes will be based on the risk associated with where they are coming from and their vaccination status, and each pathway will have testing and isolation requirements proportionate to that risk. A low-risk pathway will permit quarantine-free entry for vaccinated travellers; a medium-risk pathway would include a combination of self-isolation and/or reduced managed isolation for vaccinated travellers, while a high-risk pathway will require a full 14 days in quarantine and testing regardless of vaccination status. Last month, Australia, which is grappling with Delta variant-fuelled outbreaks in New South Wales and Victoria, announced plans to phase out lockdowns once 70 per cent of adults were vaccinated, and reopen borders to “safe” countries once coverage reached 80 per cent. Although New Zealand’s pandemic response has won widespread public support, there are signs of growing public frustration with the government’s handling of the recovery.In an opinion poll released earlier this month, public approval of Ardern’s centre-left Labor Party fell almost 10 points to 43 per cent, although support remained well ahead of the rival National Party. Neil Carr, a professor at the University of Otago’s tourism department, said the tourism sector in particular had increased pressure on Ardern’s government to find a way out of the pandemic. “The lack of international visitors has resulted in a downturn for many businesses and they are rightly keen to see international visitors returning,” Carr said. “Yet at the same time domestic tourism is very buoyant and those businesses in the sector that have managed to be light and agile have coped better. There are also concerns in the sector about a dearth of people to fill posts in the industry that has for a long time been filled by international temporary migrants or those on working holiday visas.” John Gibson, an economics professor at the University of Waikato in Hamilton, New Zealand, said before Ardern’s announcement that he had low expectations for the government’s plans.
“The Ardern government is infamous for making announcements about announcements and the event this week is along those lines,” Gibson said.
Hong Kong, Australia’s goal to eliminate Covid-19 ‘not sustainable’, says infectious disease expertGibson said many New Zealanders felt comfortable with the status quo, in part due to low unemployment and rising house prices.
“So despite restrictions on international mobility, there is a large proportion of the population who are happy with the situation as it is as they feel wealthier and secure in their jobs,” he said. “The government has manifestly failed to deliver on many previous promises, so Covid is one of the few things they feel they can highlight, electorally, so they have very little reason to change the status quo on this issue even as the rest of the world moves on.”Said Michael Plank, a statistician at the University of Canterbury whose modelling informed New Zealand’s pandemic strategy: “I think everyone recognises that border closures have costs and we can’t keep Covid out forever. But we do need to remain cautious at least until everyone has had the opportunity to be vaccinated.” “Seeing how difficult New South Wales is finding it to control their outbreak reinforces how dangerous the Delta variant is and how crucial it is to keep it out.”
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