With travel in and out of Auckland now restriction-free, attention is turning to travel in and out of the country.
Auckland dropped to Alert Level 2 today, while the rest of the country is now at Alert Level 1.
New Zealand’s biggest city was almost back to normal today, with motorists and shoppers out and about as Auckland recorded a seven-day run of no community cases of Covid-19.
It also happened to be the day that the topic of vaccine passports came up, with Covid-19 Response Minister, Chris Hipkins saying today something may be developed "within the next year".
“I think there's a lot of water to flow under the bridge very quickly but I think that vaccine passports are highly likely something that people will need to get,” Hipkins told Q+A this morning.
“It's going to be part of the way, you know, everyday travel going forward to have some sort of proof you've had vaccination to get into certain countries,” Brent Thomas of House of Travel says.
Air New Zealand is getting ready to trial something like it next month.
The Travel Pass app trial from the International Air Transport Association will run for three weeks once the app hits app/android store shelves in April and both aircrew and customers will be invited to join the trial.
As Auckland emerges from its week-long lockdown, the Government hints at introducing “virus passports”.
It’s something the Government's being urged to use too.
“If we go with an international standards, airlines like Air New Zealand and other major carriers coming to New Zealand, like Auckland Airport, like Christchurch Airport are going to recognise, it makes it just that much easier,” Thomas says.
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