New Zealanders who’ve been caught up in Melbourne’s Covid-19 outbreak have been turned away from flights home, due to confusing changes to travel bubble advice.
In an official media release distributed last night, it said anyone “who was in Victoria between 20 and 25 May but is now in another Australian state can fly to New Zealand but will need to get a negative pre-departure test taken 72 hours before departure”.
However, what that advice failed to include, was specific details around times.
Lloyd Richardson, left Victoria on the 25 May at 9.30 NZT for Sydney, to escape the lockdown.
He arrived at Sydney Airport this morning, intending to fly back to New Zealand.
Richardson already secured three negative Covid-19 tests and had an email from the Covid-19 response team confirming he was able to return home.
However at check-in, he was told despite leaving Victoria on the May 25, he was ineligible to fly.
It’s because he’d been in Victoria after 7:59 pm NZT, a time which he says wasn’t laid out on the Government's Covid-19 website until today.
It was also not in the media release.
A Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC) spokesperson admitted the technicalities surrounding the state lockdown and travel bubble did add to the confusion.
“The sequencing of the travel pause and the Victoria lockdown added a layer of complexity to information that was provided on our website.”
However, they say the Government’s Covid-19 website is kept up to date with information as it becomes available.
Richardson says the whole situation has been “frustrating”, and he’s now unsure when he’ll be able to return to New Zealand.
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