WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- New Zealand will resume the quarantine free travel bubble with some Australian states from Sunday after Wellington relaxes COVID-19 restrictions on Tuesday night.
The capital will move back down to alert level 1 from midnight on Tuesday due to zero community transmission found after the COVID-19 alert moved up to level 2 about a week ago, Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield told a press conference.
The raising of alert level on Wednesday was due to a Sydney tourist who visited Wellington between June 18 and 21 and tested positive for the more infectious Delta variant of COVID-19 upon returning to Australia.
Under alert level 2, any mass gatherings are prohibited and limited to 100 people. Facial masks are mandatory on public transport.
As Wellington prepares to return to Alert Level 1 tonight, people in the region are urged to remain vigilant and get tested if they are feeling unwell or were at a location of interest, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said.
He said there have been no cases of COVID-19 detected in the community after nearly 2,500 negative results from contacts of the case (including repeat negative results from the case's close contacts) and wastewater testing
The pause on the quarantine free travel from South Australia, Australian Capital Territory, Tasmania and Victoria will be lifted at 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, Hipkins said, adding this could change if the situation in Australia evolves.
The pause with Western Australia, Northern Territory, New South Wales and Queensland will remain in place so that outstanding test results can be returned and to "give New Zealand time to assess next steps," the minister said, adding this will be reviewed again next Tuesday.