Auckland boundary to be removed before Christmas

Chris Lynch
Chris Lynch
Nov 16, 2021 |

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

·         The Auckland boundary will formally lift at 11.59pm Tuesday 14 December

·         People travelling out of Auckland from 15 December will be covered by the vaccination or testing requirement up until 17 January.

·         Police will have operational discretion on the enforcement for these rules and perform spot checks.

·         On the northern boundary, Police will work with iwi to ensure people can move, but also that the people of Northland have confidence in the checks that are in place.

·         It is intended that people breaking the rules will face an infringement fine of $1,000.

·         Checks for travellers out of Auckland Airport will be done at check-in. Air New Zealand have made a vaccine certificate or test a requirement before New Zealanders can fly, and these requirements begin on the 15th of December also.

·   inter-island ferries to require proof of vaccination or a negative pre-departure test in order to travel between Wellington and Picton.



Jacinda Ardern says those who are vaccinated or tested negative can travel again. Photo RNZ

New Zealanders who have been vaccinated or tested will be able to travel across the rest of country starting on the 15th of December Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced today.

Travellers will have to be either fully vaccinated or have a negative test within 72 hours of departure.

This requirement will be in place for the core summer period of December 15 2021 to January 17 2022.

“The boundary is of course two ways, so the changes also mean Aucklanders and Auckland businesses can start receiving New Zealanders from all over the country, allowing families and friends to reconnect and business to receive a much needed boost before Christmas.”

“Police will have operational discretion on the enforcement of these rules. Police undertake random spot checks to enforce a range of laws on our roads, such as drink driving, and will take the same approach here.”

“On the northern boundary, and the gateway to Northland, Police will work with Iwi to ensure people can move, but also that the people of Northland have confidence in the checks that are in place.”

“We have given special consideration to the South Island. The combination of the vaccine or testing requirement for Air New Zealand combined with the ability for the inter-islander to operate the same regime will provide solid measures to slow any spread to the South.”

“Cabinet will confirm on November 29 its decision to move Auckland into the new traffic light system which we expect will occur soon after the 29th. Auckland will initially move into Red, the highest level in the traffic light.”

The rest of the country will move into the framework at the same time as Auckland. Those parts of the country with lower vaccination rates will move into the new system at Red, which has greater protections than the current Alert Level 2.

“We have deliberately set the date for the boundary restrictions to change in a month’s time in order to give the rest of New Zealand time to move into the safer traffic light system and the chance to increase vaccination rates even further.”

“82 percent of New Zealanders are now fully vaccinated compared to just 23 percent when Delta arrived three months ago, so we are in a much safer position to ease boundary restrictions.

“But elimination and the alert levels were never intended as a forever strategy. High vaccination rates now offer us the ability to change our approach and move into the next chapter of our COVID response,” Jacinda Ardern said.

 

Chris Lynch
Chris Lynch

Chris Lynch is a journalist, videographer and content producer, broadcasting from his independent news and production company in Christchurch, New Zealand. If you have a news tip or are interested in video content, email [email protected]

Have you got a news tip? Get in touch here

got a news tip?