NZ ‘dragging chain’ on bubble with Oz

New Zealand could now open up quarantine-free travel with several Australian states, a leading epidemiologist in Melbourne says.

“It is safe for New Zealand to have quarantine-free arrivals from most of Australia,” said Professor Tony Blakely, a public health medicine specialist at Melbourne University.

“In fact, it has moved beyond that and New Zealand is now dragging the chain, compared to many states in Australia allowing quarantine-free arrival of Kiwis.”

But Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern made no apologies for having a lower tolerance for cases than Australia, nor was she satisfied with its threshold for shutting down regional travel.

Yesterday Australia had had only eight cases in the previous 24 hours, most of them imported quarantine cases, while “Covid hotspot” status is set to be lifted today in Victoria and New South Wales.

Blakely said Victoria and NSW had already met the elimination criteria of no community cases from an unknown source for 28 days, while Queensland, Tasmania, Western Australia, Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory had long achieved it.

As of today, all states and territories were allowing quarantinefree travel other than South Australia (WA has risk-based home quarantine rules). “States that have delayed [quarantine-free travel] have been playing politics, not science. New Zealand is now in that camp, in my view, and has no reason to not join a travel bubble with all states and territories in Australia other than SA.”

The bubble would not only provide an injection for tourism and the economy in general, but it would also free up about 40 per cent of the beds in New Zealand managed isolation and quarantine facilities.

Blakely said any new mystery cases in the community would see a state or country drop out of the transtasman bubble until Covid is stamped out again.

But Ardern said stricter rules around restricting travel from a “Covid hotspot” were needed because of the risk of a Covid-carrier travelling to a Covid-free state and then flying to New Zealand.

The hotspot criteria was previously 30 cases in three days, but Ardern said that was too many.

“You might get into a place where we’re free of community transmission, but actually it’s as important for us to recognise what will happen if and when cases arise, because they will and they do.”

She agreed that the ball was in New Zealand’s court, as Kiwis could already travel to NSW, ACT, NT and Victoria without having to quarantine.

States that have delayed [quarantine-free travel] have been playing politics, not science.

Professor Tony Blakely, Melbourne