New Zealand’s closed border has cut the supply of migrant labor and created a worker shortage.
| New Zealand will finally begin reopening to the world at the end of this month as frustration mounts over a border that has been closed for almost two years to keep out COVID-19.
Some groups of critical and skilled workers will also be permitted to enter from those dates. Arrivals will no longer need to spend time in a government-managed isolation facility, but will be required to self-isolate and return negative tests. “The anguish of MIQ has been real, and heartbreaking,” Ms Ardern said. “But the choice to use it undeniably saved lives.”With the highly contagious omicron variant now taking hold, the only remaining purpose of border restrictions was to give the government time to administer booster vaccinations to as many people as possible.
Under the five-step reopening plan, non-citizen visa holders and as many as 5000 international students will be able to enter the country from midnight on April 12.But tourists will not be able to come until July, when the border will open to anyone from Australia and to travellers from other visa-waiver countries such as the US and the UK. The final step in October will see the border fully reopened to visitors from anywhere in the world.
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