Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says there's still a lot of work to be done before the Cook Islands is ready for a two-way travel bubble with New Zealand.
At the moment, people can leave the Cook Islands for New Zealand without needing to undergo quarantine.
Since the pandemic began, there hasn't been a single case of Covid-19 in the Cook Islands.
But before Kiwis can head to the Cooks quarantine-free, there's still work to be done, Ardern told Breakfast.
"This is all about being prepared for the odd outbreak," she said, pointing to the Covid-19 August cluster that saw 179 people contract Covid-19 and two people die.
The source of that outbreak was never identified.
Something like that would be a "worst case scenario", Ardern says.
For the Cook Islands to be prepared for such an outbreak, it needs to be able to carry out PCR testing on-island, rather than sending tests overseas to be tested, she says.
Additionally, they need to be capable of "surge testing" — potentially thousands of people in a race to contain an outbreak.
"For us, it's about doing all we can to support to get these things in place, but at the same time making sure that we are not the ones who export Covid to the Cooks, and then create a whole lot of other economic problems."
On Friday, Ardern and Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown said they were working "in earnest" for a travel bubble to begin in May.
SHARE ME