Flights to Cooks resume, Australia ponders
The Cook Islands cabinet has allowed travel to resume between Auckland and Rarotonga.
The announcement followed news of Auckland returning to alert level 2, while the rest of the country shifted to alert level 1 yesterday morning. It came after a week of no new community Covid cases.
In a statement released on Facebook by the Office of the Prime Minister, Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown shared his ‘‘confidence in the New Zealand systems and testing and contact tracing regime’’.
As of yesterday, the next available Air New Zealand flight from Rarotonga to Auckland was on Wednesday.
The Cook Islands Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration would allow entry for those who met the criteria, with travellers needing to be in either New Zealand of Cook Islands for 14 days.
‘‘All passengers will be required to obtain a negative Covid-19 test within 72 hours of departure from Auckland.’’
Passengers arriving from New Zealand would be required to take a Covid-19 test on day six after their return to the Cook Islands.
However, Australia has yet to decide whether to resume quarantine-free flights with New Zealand, and a decision is expected tomorrow.
Trans-Tasman flights between New Zealand and Australia have been suspended since February 26, meaning travellers had to rebook flights to a later date.
An Air New Zealand spokesperson said customers were being contacted to discuss rebooking options.
New Zealand currently allows quarantine-free travel between the Cook Islands, as the islands are considered ‘‘Covid-free’’.
Auckland recently came out of a seven-day lockdown following news of a new community case on February 27, linked to the Valentines Day cluster.