New Zealand fully reopens to the world in August: Ardern

WELLINGTON: New Zealand will fully reopen to the world in August, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Wednesday, ending one of the toughest anti-Covid-19 border restrictions.

Border safeguards will be lifted fully and all pre-departure testing dropped from 11:59 pm on July 31, with Ardern saying "New Zealand is in demand and now fully open for business". The controls dating back to March 2020 have been hailed as world-leading in some quarters, with New Zealand boasting one of the lowest coronavirus death rates among developed nations.

For much of the pandemic, all international arrivals had to undergo two weeks of quarantine in government-run hotel facilities patrolled by the military. Those restrictions have already been dropped for New Zealand residents and travellers from nations with visa-free agreements. But the rest of the world had been told to wait until October.

Ardern told a business audience in Auckland on Tuesday that the date had been brought forward by more than two months as part of a raft of announcements to reinvigorate the economy -- most notably the ailing tourism industry.