COVID-19: New Zealand temporarily suspends entry for all travellers from India

Wellington, Apr 08: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Thursday temporarily suspended entry for all travellers from India, including its own citizens, following a high number of coronavirus positive cases arriving from that country.

"We are temporarily suspending entry into New Zealand for travellers from India... The suspension will start from 1600 local time on April 11 and will be in place until April 28. I want to emphasize that while arrivals of COVID from India has prompted this measure, we are looking at how we manage high-risk points of departure generally. This is not a country-specific risk assessment...," Ardern said at a press conference in Wellington.

According to reports, the government will deliberate upon measures to deal with the crisis in the meantime. New Zealand has virtually eliminated COVID-19 within its borders and has not reported any community transmission for about 40 days.