Quarantine-free travel for Niue to New Zealand will begin on 23 March
Niue will begin quarantine-free travel to New Zealand on Tuesday 23rd March. It was in November last year that Premier Dalton Tagelagi first told BCN news of his discussions with New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern for a one-way quarantine-free travel from Niue to New Zealand.
At 10.30am this morning Friday 12th March (Niue time) BCN news received the the Niue government press release titled “COVID-19 FREE NIUE WELCOMES QUARANTINE FREE TRAVEL WITH NZ”
The government statement says that “The QFT is a big step to recovery, access to healthcare and education”.
Premier Dalton Tagelagi says that Niue is unique as one of the few countries in the world that is completely free of COVID-19.
“This COVID-19 status is significant for the ongoing health and safety of Niue as well as the opportunities it creates for trade and the resumption of (tourism) travel destination to New Zealand”.
According to the statement New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said “Niue has no reported cases of COVID 19 and its stringent border controls mean we can be confident it is safe to commence quarantine-free travel to New Zealand from Niue”.
O’love Jacobsen who was on a radio program this morning was one of the first to publicly congratulate Premier Tagelagi and his government for this wonderful news. Jacobsen had been lobbying for this QFT and was preparing a motion to take to the next sitting of the Fono Ekepule next week on the same issue. Jacobsen says that she will be on this flight on the 23rd of March and arriving in New Zealand on the date of her medical appointment.
Premier Tagelagi says that Niue will maintain its current border settings so only returnees with Government approval may enter Niue and will need to quarantine or self-isolate for 14 days on arrival.
Officials of both governments are working towards ensuring all safety protocols and response capabilities are in place for the resumption of two-way quarantine travel between the two countries.
