New Zealand has postponed the reopening of the border to Omicron in February Coronavirus pandemic

The South Pacific nation planned to phase out border restrictions in January.

New Zealand on Tuesday delayed plans to reopen its borders until the end of February, citing the rapid global spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

The South Pacific nation has just begun easing some of the world’s toughest pandemic measures, and its international border restrictions will be gradually eased starting in January, with all of them. foreign tourists will be able to enter the country from April.

Non-quarantine travel to Australia for New Zealand on 16 January will be postponed until the end of February, Chris Hipkins COVID-19 Response Minister said at a press conference in Wellington.

“All the evidence so far indicates that Omicron is still the most transmissible variant of COVID-19.

“This is certainly frustrating and will frustrate many holiday plans, but it is important to make these changes clear so that they have time to consider those plans.”

Prudence

The measures are a precaution because it is not yet clear how Omicron makes people sick and its impact on health systems is not yet fully understood, he said.

New Zealand has also said it will increase its stay at 40 state-run facilities from one week to 10 days. The requirement for a pre-departure test to enter New Zealand has also been reduced from 72 hours to 48 hours before the trip.