The Covid-19 Response Minister has given Kiwis an example of why the trans-Tasman bubble is so tricky to form.
Chris Hipkins spoke to media today from Wellington’s Basin Reserve after the Government launched a new summer campaign to encourage Kiwis to keep the Covid-19 virus at bay.
The ‘Make Summer Unstoppable’ campaign reinforces the basics - asking Kiwis to wash or sanitise hands, scan QR codes, turn on Bluetooth on the COVID Tracer app, and stay home if you’re feeling even a little unwell.
After speaking about the campaign, Hipkins said New Zealanders could expect an update on the trans-Tasman bubble this week.
He said there were a variety of things to work through on opening up a bubble.
“So we’ve got to work through what would happen in the event of a resurgence, that’s one of the things we have to work through - we’ve got to work through a lot of logistical issues, which includes working with the airports and the airlines.
“One of the issues that we are working through with the airlines now is making sure that any air crews who are working in safe travel zones are segregated from air crews who are working in the hot zones, if you like.
“That’s a logistical challenge for an airline like Air New Zealand who are the main airline flying in and out of New Zealand,” Hipkins said.
“So there are two things really to finally resolve: logistics and scenario-planning in the event of an outbreak.”
He said if New Zealand were to open up to the Gold Coast, for example and there were “thousands of New Zealanders on the Gold Coast enjoying the summer sun and there was to be an outbreak and we had to bring them all home and isolate them at home, we’d need to figure out exactly how that would happen".
“Because we wouldn’t have thousands of managed isolation rooms reserved just in case that were to happen.
“So we’ve just got to work through all those final scenarios,” Hipkins said.
He said a “fuller update” would be shared tomorrow after Cabinet meets.
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