NZ PM Ardern unveils five-step plan to fully reopen borders by October

“New Zealanders in Australia will be allowed to return without having to isolate in MIQ from February 28, and those in the rest of world from March 14,” said New Zealand (NZ) Prime Minister (PM) Jacinda Ardern as she releases a five-step plan of easing the covid-linked border controls during early Thursday morning in Asia, per ABC News.

Additional quotes

Instead of MIQ, those who are vaccinated will be allowed to self-isolate elsewhere.

We are well on our way to reaching that destination. But we are not quite there yet.

Fully vaccinated Kiwis and other currently eligible travellers from Australia will be able to travel to New Zealand from 11.59 pm Sunday 27 February, and instead of going into MIQ, will be able to self-isolate.

In step 2, two weeks later on Sunday 13 March, fully vaccinated New Zealanders and other currently eligible travellers from the rest of the world will also be able to travel into New Zealand without going through MIQ.

Step 3 begins from 11.59 pm 12 April. Here we further extend our border extension to include a large international student cohort of up to 5,000 students for entry ahead of semester 2 and temporary visa holders who still meet relevant visa requirements.

Step 4 sees the biggest expansion yet, and includes our Australian cousins and all other visitors and other visitors and business travellers who can normally enter New Zealand without a visa. This stage is likely to begin when we have much larger case numbers than we have now. For planning, we anticipate this stage will begin no later than July.

Step 5 begins in October and includes all other visitors and students who require a visa to enter New Zealand, with normal visa processing resuming.

NZD/USD renews intraday high but stays pressured…

Following the news, NZD/USD prices refreshed daily high to 0.6645 but remain depressed as markets turn cautious ahead of the key central bank meetings, namely the ECB and the BOE.

Read: NZD/USD bulls take a breather in pursuit of 0.67 the figure for days ahead