New Zealand remains one of the few countries that has kept its number of coronavirus cases under control. In some ways, it was easy for them, for a few reasons. They’re a relatively small country that’s far away from a lot of places. They have a Prime Minister who did all the right things. They shut down quickly and completely. They provided a united front, with consistent information. And perhaps most importantly, their residents have been compliant with what’s been asked of them. It’s all stayed that way, too. In fact, they were the first country to announce they had eliminated the virus, back in April.
From mid-April to mid-June, Australia was also doing well with the virus. Well enough where they and New Zealand were having some serious discussions about forming a travel bubble.
Unfortunately, that’s not as much of the case, since Australia has more and more high number of cases. Especially in Victoria (that’s the state where Melbourne is). In fact, of the 372 new cases confirmed in the last 24 hours (as of this writing), 357 of them have been in Victoria.
Australia’s cases // PC: https://www.health.gov.au/
With that, New Zealand is putting its travel bubble with Australia on hold for now, and is in discussions with COVID-free Cooks Island instead. Tasmania is also a possibility.
Work on the new bubble is progressing well and they’re in the midst of making logistical arrangements at New Zealand airports.
“(Officials are) doing that. They’re working with the airlines. That’s going to take several weeks. Then we’ll get a report back on exact dates when we’ll be able to start the rollout of the reopening,” said New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
No specific dates or timetables are available, although if it all works out, with all the planning involved, it wouldn’t go into effect for several more months.
PC: Good Free Photos
#stayhealthy #staysafe #washyourhands #wearamask
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
