From today, passengers from anywhere in the world, excluding Australia, Antarctica and some Pacific Island nations, will be required to undergo Day 0/1 testing upon arrival in New Zealand.
This expands on measures already in place for passengers from the UK and US.
As well as this, Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield will now have the power to expand the pre-departure test requirement to all countries and territories excluding Australia, Antarctica and some Pacific Island nations.
He could use those powers by as early as next week.
"New Zealand already has some of the most stringent border protection measures in the world. Today's amendments further strengthen that position in line with the Government's overall elimination strategy," Covid-19 Minister Chris Hipkins said.
The measures the Government announced today are in addition to the ones already in place for those coming to New Zealand from the UK or the US.
From 11.59pm on Friday, travellers arriving on all flights from those countries must have had a negative test result for Covid-19 in the 72 hours before their departure
Hipkins said New Zealand was in the fortunate position of having no community cases of any new variant types – "but we take nothing for granted".
"That's why we continue to take action, with very specific steps to further strengthen our response at the air border."
The new Day 0/1 rules will be progressively introduced at Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ) facilities over three days, starting from Monday, January 18.
Routine Day 3 and Day 12 tests would continue, Hipkins said.
Meanwhile, Hipkins announced a number of other amended Air Border Orders he has today signed.
• Children under two will be exempt from pre-departure testing
• Passengers transiting through the UK and US for not more than 96 hours before departing for New Zealand will be exempt for now from pre-departure testing
• RT-PCR tests, LAMP and viral antigen tests will all be accepted for pre-departure testing
• All tests must be processed at a laboratory
• A hard copy or electronic copy of the test result from an accredited laboratory will be acceptable documentation of a negative test
• Upon arrival in New Zealand, travellers will be required to produce proof of their negative test result to a Customs officer during passport processing. Either a hard copy or an electronic copy will be accepted
In rare cases, Hipkins said the requirement of a test 72 hours in advance may be extended to 96 hours if a person's flight has been delayed or cancelled, or test results haven't been received in time.
In this situation, however, the flight must be rescheduled or rebooked to depart within 24 hours.
But he reiterated that all travellers, including anyone exempted from the pre-departure testing requirement, would still be required to complete the 14 days mandatory isolation which applies to all new arrivals into New Zealand.
From January 29, arriving in New Zealand without evidence of a negative approved test or medical certificate would incur an infringement offence fee or a fine not exceeding $1000.
"Given the high rates of infection in many countries and evidence of the global spread of more transmissible variants, it's clear that most global air routes will be of critical concern for the foreseeable future, and we must respond strongly to the evolving situation," Hipkins said.
Border closure and a strict national lockdown during the initial phase of the pandemic has helped New Zealand keep numbers relatively low, with just over 1800 confirmed cases and 25 deaths since the pandemic began.
The country last reported a local case nearly two months ago.
- NZ Herald and Reuters
