New Zealand sets out plans to reconnect with post-pandemic world

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has said her government will explore more travel “bubbles” and lead trade delegations later this year to reconnect with a post-pandemic world. With a majority of New Zealand’s essential workers vaccinated against COVID-19 and inoculation for the wider population set to start in July, Ardern said on Thursday that her government was now ready to rebuild contact with the rest of the world. Ardern’s plan for a partial and phased reopening comes after more than a year of a tough border closure, which has helped New Zealand – a Pacific nation of five million people – eliminate the coronavirus within its borders. The first step in New Zealand’s re-opening was a “travel bubble” with Australia, which began last month. Ardern said her government will also allow quarantine free travel with South Pacific’s Cook Islands on Monday.