Quarantine-Free Travel Is Set to Recommence Between New Zealand and Queensland

Queensland residents will all soon be able to holiday in New Zealand again, in the latest change to the trans-Tasman bubble. Quarantine-free travel between Australia and NZ was put on pause back in June due to rising COVID-19 cases in the former, and was then reinstated with some Australian states at the beginning of July — and now it's returning in Queensland as well.

From 11.59pm NZT/9.59pm AEST today, Monday, July 12, folks who live in the the Sunshine State will be permitted into NZ without quarantining — so if you're a Brisbanite in need of a holiday after the city's lockdown earlier this month, that's great news.

The trans-Tasman bubble will now only sill remain suspended with New South Wales, which is unsurprising given Sydney's current lockdown.

In a statement today, Tuesday, June 29, on Twitter, the NZ Government advised that "a public health risk assessment for Queensland has been carried out by the Ministry of Health, and they have assessed travel with the state as presenting a low public health risk." It continued: "The last community case was 7 July 2021. The last time a case was infectious in the community was on 4 July 2021. There have been no unexpected wastewater detections and community testing rates have been good. Queensland is also easing restrictions within the state."

Queenslanders keen to head to NZ when the bubble kicks back in will need to provide evidence of a negative pre-departure test before they're able to fly. Also, you can't have been in New South Wales on or after 10.30pm NZT/8.30pm AEST on Saturday, June 26.

No word was given regarding a timeframe for reinstating the quarantine-free travel between NZ and NSW, but again that isn't a surprise. The latter reported 112 new locally acquired cases in the past 24 hours, and isn't expected to get out of lockdown this week — even though a target date of July 16 was set a week ago.

To find out more about the status of COVID-19 in Australia, head to the Australian Government Department of Health's website. To find out more about the virus and travel restrictions in New Zealand, head over to the NZ Government's COVID-19 hub.