Queensland Health is working with the New Zealand Government to kick start the arrival of quarantine-free flights into the state, following the border opening commencing today.
Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young said the first quarantine free flight to arrive in Queensland from New Zealand is due on Wednesday.
“New Zealand reached 28 days without an unlinked COVID-19 case, which is why we’ve opened our borders from today,” she said.
“There is a national protocol that Queensland has adopted, which splits people on flights who have only been in safe travel zone countries, versus those who have also been in other countries.
“Anyone who travels to Queensland from New Zealand on a quarantine free flight – where every passenger has only been in New Zealand in the past 14 days – will not be required to quarantine on arrival.
“Anyone who doesn’t travel on a quarantine free flight is still subject to 14 days mandatory quarantine.
“We have a New Zealand flight arriving in Brisbane today that isn’t a quarantine free flight, which means those people will need to complete quarantine.”
Dr Young said the department is working with hospital and health services across the state to determine which travellers from New Zealand currently in hotel quarantine can leave quarantine today.
“Our staff are working quickly on the ground to determine those who arrived in Queensland on a quarantine free flight, so we can let them out of quarantine, provided they return a negative COVID-19 test,” she said.
“Unfortunately, those who didn’t travel on a quarantine free flight will need to complete their 14 days of quarantine, because they’ve mixed with travellers from other countries.
“For the past 88 days, all of Queensland’s COVID-19 cases have been from overseas travellers and detected in hotel quarantine.”
“The risk is simply too high to end their quarantine early.”
New Zealander’s must complete the Australia Travel Declaration at least 72 hours before their departure for Australia.
Other countries, including New Zealand, still have travel restrictions in place – Queenslanders should visit Smart Traveller before making travel arrangements.
