New Zealand announces plan to reopen borders

I am announcing today that Kiwi is fully vaccinated and other currently eligible travelers from Australia will be able to visit New Zealand from 11:59pm on Sunday 27 February. And instead of going into MIQ, will be able to self-isolate. In step two, just two weeks later, fully vaccinated New Zealanders and other currently eligible travelers from the rest of the world will also be able to visit New Zealand without going through a MIQ. While we will no longer be requiring people to go into managed quarantine, at this stage travelers will be required to broadly follow the same requirements as we in New Zealand for with people considered to be in close contact at the time of their travel. That means current returnees will need to self-isolate for 10 days. But as the quarantine period is reduced for recent contacts in New Zealand, as well as in Phase 2 of our Omicron response, returnees will also only need to be isolated for seven days.