Covid 19 coronavirus: Australia re-opens one way bubble allowing quarantine-free travel

Australian health authorities applauded New Zealand's contact tracing efforts. Photo / File

The quarantine-free travel bubble between Australia and New Zealand has been reinstated after Auckland's hot-spot status was removed.

More than 1.7 million Kiwis emerged from a strict week-long lockdown in Auckland on Sunday as health authorities rushed to contain a Covid cluster that broke out at an Auckland high school.

Later a case of the highly contagious UK variant was detected.

Updated advice received on Tuesday from New Zealand officials suggested the hot-spot status be lifted and "green flights" should resume from 11.59pm on March 11.

Earlier this morning National Party leader Judith Collins, said New Zealand and Australia had done well to reduce the threat of Covid-19.

"We should take the logical next step and get the travel bubble up and running," she said.

"Both countries have a similar Covid profile and Australia has proven a bubble can work."

Australia's chief medical officer Professor Paul Kelly has been monitoring the situation and said it had "improved greatly", with "minimal risk" remaining from the Auckland cluster.

A statement from the Department of Health and Kelly outlined that states or territories were welcome to introduce their own conditions that might differ to the national advice.

"All travellers are advised to check the arrangements in both their place of arrival and place of final destination before they travel," Kelly said in the statement.

Australian health authorities applauded New Zealand's contact tracing efforts.

"New Zealand's contact tracing efforts showed the recent case identified, unrelated to the Auckland cluster, posed a low risk of Covid-19 spreading in Australia," Professor Kelly said.

"The Australian Government will continue to work closely with colleagues in the New Zealand Ministry of Health to monitor and assess the public health risk posed by Covid-19."

Australian residents are still not allowed to fly to New Zealand under the current international travel ban, and any Kiwis who do travel to Australia will also have to complete 14 days quarantine on return.

The Prime Minister's office has been contacted for comment.

Australia started taking green flights earlier in the year. They were halted when cases of the South African variant were detected in hotel quarantine in Auckland.

They were reinstated at the beginning of February, just a couple of weeks before the high school cluster in Auckland become known.

The bubble was swiftly halted again.

Three Air New Zealand flights are scheduled to touch down in Sydney on Thursday hours before the bubble ban is lifted.

There are no flights scheduled to arrive on Friday at this stage.

Australia had opened its border to Kiwis last October and had adopted a flexible approach whenever community cases were identified here.

"We should take the same approach."

Collins said people travelling from across the Tasman should have to show a negative pre-departure test within 72 hours of travelling.