Covid-19: Cook Islands travel bubble may resume when all of NZ is at level 1

Monday, 11 October 2021

The Cook Islands suspended its two-way travel bubble with New Zealand when the Delta outbreak began in Auckland.

Kiwi tourists can expect to travel to the Cook Islands when New Zealand moves into alert level 1, even if there are still some Covid-19 cases in the community.

Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown said his government had changed its position since it stipulated that New Zealand needed to go 14 days with zero community cases before the two-way quarantine-free travel bubble could resume.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has set out a roadmap for Auckland to carefully move out of current Covid-19 restrictions (first published October 4).

In September, Brown said he acknowledged at some point in the future all countries would need to learn to live with Covid-19, but that time had not come for the Cook Islands yet.

The Cook Islands government changed its mind on the border measures after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern revealed New Zealand was abandoning its elimination strategy.

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Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown says his government has reconsidered the border measures it announced in September.

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Cook Islands hotel owner Richard Vinsen says the past 15 months have been difficult but he's hopeful the New Zealand travel bubble will revive the country's fortunes.

Brown said his government’s thinking was that when all of New Zealand moves to alert level 1, even if there were still Covid-19 cases in the community, the Cook Islands could have a high degree of confidence from this classification.

All travellers would need to be fully vaccinated.

According to a statement from the Cook Islands Border Easement Taskforce, a phased re-opening of the country’s inwards border would continue to be limited only to those visitors who have been in New Zealand for at least 14 days prior to travel.

Repatriation flights of Cook Island residents stranded in alert level 2 regions of New Zealand began with a first flight on October 7 from Christchurch, with a second one scheduled for October 15 for those stranded in Auckland in level 3.

Strict criteria was being applied to those travelling, and Auckland travellers were required to undergo 14-days of quarantine.

The current restrictions for travel to the Cook Islands are in place until November 4, and will be reviewed before then.

Brown said with Auckland still at level 3, and cases of the Delta variant increasing, it was critical that all the right steps were taken to minimise any risk to Cook Islands.

“Our high level of caution is to ensure our country retains its Covid-free status,” he said.

“We are not prepared to risk the health and safety of our people in the Cook Islands, particularly our children who are not yet vaccinated.”

He said more than 96 per cent of eligible Cook Islanders were fully vaccinated, with vaccinations for children aged 12-15 years already underway.

Although high vaccination afforded an additional layer of protection, the Government would continue to maintain border controls and public health measures to “ensure any outbreaks and swiftly contained and managed”.