New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Thursday, 8 April, announced the temporary suspension of all travellers from India, including New Zealand’s own citizens or residents, for a period of two weeks. This is due to the recent surge in COVID cases in India.
On Thursday, New Zealand recorded 23 cases of COVID at its borders, 17 of which were from India.
India on Wednesday, 7 April, reported 1,15,736 new coronavirus cases, taking the tally in the country to 1,28,01,785. The death toll increased by 630 to 1,66,177.
This is the biggest one-day rise in cases in the country since the pandemic began.
The suspension will begin from 11 April till 28 April. Meanwhile, the New Zealand government will be looking at risk management measures to resume travel.
PM Ardern said, “I want to emphasise that while arrival of COVID from India has prompted this measure, we are looking at how we manage high-risk points of departure generally. This is not a country-specific risk assessment,” Reuters reported.
New Zealand has not reported any community transmission locally for about 40 days. Although a border worker had tested COVID positive on Thursday and efforts to vaccinate the 24-year-old were underway.
Ardern expressed her concern regarding the suspension and said, “I absolutely understand the difficulty this temporary suspension will cause. I understand that, but I also feel a sense of responsibility and obligation to find ways to reduce risk that travellers are experiencing,” Radio New Zealand (RNZ) reported.
(With inputs from Reuters and RNZ)
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