Current Coronavirus information

New Zealand was a good place to be during the pandemic: the government's communication was clear and uniform, kiwis behaved in a disciplined manner and showed great solidarity even during lockdowns, and the more or less independent island situation on the edge of the Pacific enabled a unique isolation strategy. The Economist even ranked Auckland to be the most liveable city in the world in 2021. As a side effect of the closed borders and lockdown in 2020 New Zealand was also the only OECD country to have fewer deaths than expected (around 2,500). Before Omicron arrived in 2022 life expectancy was on average 8 months higher than before!

Only New Zealanders and urgently needed workers were admitted to arrive at the specially established quarantine hotels at the borders. The lack of tourism hurt economically, but the many returning kiwis and those who don't travel abroad kept the economic problems within bounds.

Now that travel to New Zealand is permitted again, make sure you have travel insurance and know what will be covered in an emergency. If you run out of money while in New Zealand please contact your embassy or consulate for more information. Travellers from severely affected regions may still not be able to board a flight to New Zealand, so keep an eye on developments before you book a trip.

See below for the current status.

Coronavirus timeline

2020 timeline:

• 3 February: Foreign travellers from China are denied entry to New Zealand, citizens and permanent residents allowed in.
• 5 February: A government-chartered flight from Wuhan brings 157 passengers into quarantine at a military facility for 14 days.
• 28 February: New Zealand confirms the first case of Coronavirus, travelling from Iran.
• 16 March: All travellers arriving in New Zealand must self-isolate for 14 days. Cruise ships will be prohibited from docking in New Zealand until 30 June. 8 COVID-19 cases confirmed so far, but no community outbreaks.
• 21 March: New Zealand alert levels are introduced, currently at level 2, with 52 confirmed Coronavirus cases.
• 23 March: Alert level 3 because of first suspected community outbreak, with 102 confirmed cases and schools starting to close.
• 26 March: New Zealand wide introduction of alarm level 4, with all non essential travel and work prohibited, for a minimum of 4 weeks. 283 cases confirmed.
• 28. April: Back to alarm level 3 with more economic activity. 1,469 confirmed and suspected cases, daily increase is currently about 5 cases per day. 19 deaths so far, nearly all in old age care homes.
• 14. May: New Zealand moved down to alert level 2 with wide ranging freedoms and business activity, but social distancing is still called for with strangers, laying the basis for successful contact tracing. There are 1,497 cases in total now, 94% of them recovered. No or minimal new daily cases (if so then they are all within existing clusters) at the moment.
• 9 June: New Zealand is completely coronavirus-free, with no active cases, the country is working like before COVID-19 at alarm level 1! To defend this status, the border is heavily regulated, only exceptional cases and New Zealanders are given permission to enter. Travellers may continue to import the virus, but it is hoped to keep these cases under control with contact tracing and quarantine.
• 13 August: After 102 coronavirus-free days without a virus outside of the quarantine units there are 4 new unexplained cases in Auckland. Due to this community transmission this brings us back to two weeks of alert level 3 in Auckland and alert level 2 in the rest of New Zealand.
• 31 August: With only a handful of new cluster related daily infections Auckland is out of lockdown again, with added restrictions about social gatherings compared to the rest of NZ, which stays at level 2.
• 22 September: The rest of New Zealand is back to level 1 with no restrictions! So far there were 1815 cases in total, including 158 quarantine arrivals in facilities, currently 61 active cases in isolation, 25 deaths.
• 24 September: Auckland downgraded again to level 2.
• 8 October: Auckland is also free of restrictions again, there has been no coronavirus in the community for about 2 weeks.
• 16 October: Australia opens one way travel bubble for New Zealanders.
• 19 November: New rules about masks on public transport in Auckland, on domestic flights and for drivers of Taxis. According to a Bloomberg resilience ranking, New Zealand is the best country in the world to have been in during the coronavirus era.

2021 timeline:

• 27 January 2021: All contacts of a case that tested positive after leaving the quarantine are negative, no new alert level will be raised. Along with Australia, New Zealand has the world's highest test rate per positive case since the pandemic began. Over 100,000 people have now arrived at the border through the quarantine facilities. Out of nearly 100 countries New Zealand has been ranked as the country most responsive to the Covid-19 outbreak (Lowy Institute).
• 15 February: 3 new cases in the community lead to a change of alert levels, a snap level 3 lockdown in Auckland for three days, level 2 in the rest of the country. First vaccines arrive in New Zealand.
• 28 February: Another lockdown in Auckland after a second positive case has been proven not to adhere to isolation rules.
• 19 April: Start date of a quarantine free travel bubble with Australia, including return flights.
• 17 May: The quarantine free travel bubble with the Cook Islands/Rarotonga begins.
• 23 June: Wellington is on alert level 2 for one week because of a COVID-positive tourist from Australia - without further infections.
• 23 July: The quarantine-free travel bubble with Australia ends due to the growing COVID outbreak in New South Wales.
• 18 August: All of New Zealand is in lockdown due to one Delta variant case in Auckland/Coromandel, with numbers rising. Mask use is now mandatory in all public indoors places.
• 23 August: Lockdown extension, there are now 107 cases, 320 locations of interest, 13,000+ contacts and 154,000 tests done. QR code app scanning and contact tracing is now compulsory in most locations/venues. 1,8 million people have now been vaccinated with at least 1 dose, 1 million with 2 doses
• 2 September: Lower alert level 3 throughout the country except in Auckland, so far there have been 725 cases (49 today) and more than 37,000 contacts, 42 with hospitalisation. 2.35 million New Zealanders have now been vaccinated with at least 1 dose, 1.24 million with two.
• 8 September: All areas except Auckland enter the less restrictive alert level 2. So far there have been 841 cases (21 today).
• 22 September: End of the hard lockdown in Auckland, but no elimination yet: a critical phase before a potential change of strategy to suppression. 1108 cases so far, 3.15 million (75%) vaccinated with at least 1 dose, 1.67 million (40%) with two.
• 8 October: Due to a persistent low rate of new infections and spread to the south of Auckland de facto change of strategy from elimination to strict suppression with main focus on a rising vaccination rate, with a slight easing of restrictions. 1381 cases so far in this outbreak, 79% vaccinated with at least 1 dose.
• 10 November: Auckland is out of its stricter lockdown with retail open again, most of the country in level 2. MIQ stays for vaccinated arrivals will be shortened from 14 November. 4813 cases so far in this outbreak, 89% vaccinated with at least 1 dose.
• 3 December: After 107 days of tough restrictions Auckland, and also the rest of New Zealand, moves into the longterm traffic light system which operates with public health measures depending and vaccine passes, depending on the local red, orange or green status. 93% of the eligible population with at least 1 dose (96% in Auckland), 8,745 total cases in this current Delta outbreak, no Omicron cases have been recorded so far. Borders will be opening to fully vaccinated New Zealand citizens from Australia from 17 January 2022, to fully vaccinated New Zealand citizens from all but very high risk countries from 14 February 2022 and to fully vaccinated foreign nationals - in gradual waves under certain conditions - from May 2022 onwards. Don't expect tourists to be allowed in the first stage of that opening just yet, the government will clarify the situation later on.
• 29 December: First Omicron case in the community, released from MIQ after three negative tests. 46 new COVID cases today in total. Due to the Omicron wave overseas the planned open border with Australia (94,000 active cases, 18,000 today) is put on hold for the moment.

2022 timeline:

• 24 January: All of New Zealand enters the red traffic light because Omicron is now growing in at least one community cluster, with rapid growth of further infections highly likely. There are currently 467 community cases of Covid-19 in total, most Delta. 95% of the eligible population has received their first dose while 93 per cent had received two, so far 1 million people received a booster shot. 23% of 5-11-year-olds are at least booked for their first jab. Today there are 25 new community cases (8 of them Omicron) and 50 at the border, 10 people in hospital. Since beginning of the pandemic there have been 15,625 cases in total and 52 deaths.
• 11 February: Omicron is taking hold with a new all time high of 446 daily and 3,660 active cases in total. 96% of the population had at least 1 dose of vaccination, 55% had their 3rd booster shot. 43% of 5-11 year olds had their first dose.
• 1 March: Due to the current Omicron wave New Zealand eliminates further requirements, fully vaccinated travellers will no longer have to self-isolate and future opening steps are being brought forward. Today there are 19,566 new community cases, 373 cases are in hospital, from a total of 100,000 active cases in total.
• 8 March: The pandemic peaks with 23,913 new cases (and 35 deaths on 29 March).
• 14 April: All of New Zealand changes from red to orange in the traffic light system, at the same time the border is open again for Australian tourists. So far there have been more than 795,000 confirmed cases and 531 deaths. The true number of cases was likely much higher, while for most deaths COVID was not the dominant cause, a positive consequence of the extraordinarily high vaccination rate.
• 1 August: no more pre departure tests for travellers, visitors from anywhere in the world, all vaccination statuses and visa categories are allowed travel.
• 13 September: Mask requirements only remain for specific health care environments, the COVID traffic light system and vaccine mandates are coming to an end. Travellers are still given 2 rapid antigen tests on arrival, the results of which should be reported in a simple online form. If you are COVID positive you still need to self-isolate for 7 days.
• 20 October: No future lockdowns and vaccination mandates according to the government, no more COVID entry form. Rapid antigen tests are still available free of charge at the border and are voluntary. There are currently 185 patients in hospital, >2000 new registered cases per day, 2065 total deaths so far.

Further official and updated information for travellers and the COVID-19 Coronavirus: covid19.govt.nz.

More about general risks and dangers in New Zealand.