NZ and AU bubles

New Zealand and Australia will allow quarantine-free travel between the two countries starting April 19, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced

Ardern called the new arrangement the Trans-Tasman bubble.

“The bubble will give our economic recovery a boost and represents a world leading arrangement of safely opening up international travel while continuing to pursue a strategy of elimination and keeping the virus out,” Adern said at a press briefing Tuesday.

It’s the first time since the pandemic required travel restrictions and border closures that conditions have been met allowing for passengers to fly between Australia and New Zealand without needing a 14-day quarantine.

Australia and New Zealand have controlled the COVID-19 outbreak better than many other developed nations. Both countries closed their international borders to noncitizens early in the pandemic, which helped them to contain the virus’s spread.

Officials have recorded relatively low confirmed cases and deaths from the coronavirus in both countries. Australia has recorded about 29,400 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 909 deaths since the pandemic started. New Zealand has recorded 2,168 confirmed cases and 26 deaths.