New Zealand to resume Australia "travel bubble" as Sydney COVID threat
eases
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[May 08, 2021]
(Reuters) - New Zealand will lift
its partial suspension of a "travel bubble" with Australia from midnight
on Sunday as fears of a COVID-19 outbreak in Sydney eased.
New Zealand had blocked travel to and from New South Wales, Australia's
most populous state, on Thursday after a couple in Sydney with no links
to high risk professions or people tested positive for COVID-19.
The cases prompted a reinstatement of some social distancing measures
around Sydney, and a campaign to get more people tested, as authorities
scrambled to determine the source of infection.
However, state health officials on Saturday reported a second straight
day without a new case, allaying concerns about a wider outbreak in the
city.
New Zealand COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said travel to and
from NSW, home to one-third of Australia's 25 million population, would
resume after health officials determined the risk to New Zealand was
low.
"New Zealand has consistently taken a precautionary approach to keeping
COVID-19 out," Hipkins said in a statement.
Australia and New Zealand began allowing quarantine-free travel less
than a month ago, after a protracted run of zero locally-acquired cases
in the neighbouring countries.
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A passenger arrives from New Zealand after the Trans-Tasman travel
bubble opened overnight, following an extended border closure due to
the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, at Sydney Airport in
Sydney, Australia, October 16, 2020. REUTERS/Loren Elliott/File
Photo
"Border controls are a key tool for stopping the
introduction and spread of new cases from overseas and remain
central to our elimination strategy," Hipkins said.
Australia has meanwhile barred travel from India due to high
infection rates, but it has said it would begin chartering
repatriation flights on May 15.
(Reporting by Byron Kaye; editing by Jane Wardell)
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