Pacific nations exempt from New Zealand’s Day 0 COVID testing

Passengers from Australia, Antarctica and many Pacific nations (Fiji, Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa, Tokelau, Tonga, Kiribati, New Caledonia, Tuvalu, Marshall Islands, Vanuatu, Federated States of Micronesia, Solomon Islands, Nauru and Palau) – will be exempt from undergoing Day 0/1 testing upon arrival in the country as of Monday 18 January, according to a New Zealand Government statement released today.

The Day 0/1 testing measures will be progressively introduced at Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ) facilities over three days. This measure is already in place for passengers from the United Kingdom and United States of America where pre-departure testing is also required. Routine Day 3 and Day 12 tests will continue as usual.

In December 2020, Minister of Foreign Affairs Nanaia Mahuta and Associate Minister Aupito Su’a William Sio, confirmed 75 million dollars of Official Development Assistance had been earmarked to support Pacific and global vaccine access and roll-out.

There were four new cases of COVID-19 reported in managed isolation in New Zealand since the last update on Sunday, and no new cases in the community.

The total number of active cases in New Zealand is 77, with the total number confirmed to date of 1,866.

NZ COVID Tracer now has 2,436,500 registered users.