The Government has paused quarantine-free travel with all of Australia for three days as New South Wales community Covid-19 outbreak continues.
The news was announced in a press release on Saturday evening from the office of Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins.
"Quarantine Free Travel from all Australian states and territories will be paused from 10.30pm (NZT) tonight until 11.59pm (NZT) on Tuesday 29 June," the release states.
The decision was made as the Government says there are now multiple cases and outbreaks in Australia in differing stages of containment and the health risk for New Zealand in response to these cases is increasing.
Andrew Macfarlane told Q+A around 85,000 people made the most of the bubble when it was announced in April.
Today it was announced that more than 1600 people in three Australian states have been ordered into isolation after a mine worker tested positive for Covid-19 at the Granites Mine in the Northern Territory.
The Government says, "This short pause will give us time to get a better understanding of the developing situation and to consider the potential implementation of a range of measures to make the bubble safer, such as the introduction of pre-departure testing for all flights from Australia to New Zealand."
The Government will continue to monitor the situation closely and the decision will be reviewed on Monday.
Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins says the pause is "necessary".
“I acknowledge the frustration and inconvenience that comes with this pause, but given the high level of transmissibility of what appears to be the Delta variant, and the fact that there are now multiple community clusters, it is the right thing to do to keep Covid-19 out of New Zealand,” Hipkins says.
The news comes as a decision on lifting Alert Level 2 restrictions for Wellington is due tomorrow afternoon.
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