Australia's Minister for Health and Aged Care Greg Hunt stated (31-Jan-2021) Acting Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Professor Michael Kidd recommended the Australian Government should not extend the pause in safe travel zone flights from New Zealand beyond 14:00 on 31-Jan-2021. The government accepted the advice, with green zone services resuming on the afternoon of 31-Jan-2021. Professor Kidd noted services from New Zealand are sufficiently low risk given New Zealand's strong public health response to coronavirus. Given there is still a small risk of further associated cases being detected in New Zealand, with an abundance of caution, Professor Kidd recommended pre and post service screening be implemented for the safe travel zone operations for the next 10 days. [more - original PR]
Australia resumes green travel zone with New Zealand
31 January, 2021