Covid 19 coronavirus: Freeze on quarantine-free travel from Victoria to New Zealand

Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins announced a pause on the quarantine free travel bubble from New Zealand to Victoria. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Quarantine-free travel from Victoria to New Zealand will be paused from 1.59am (NZT) on Friday.

Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said the decision followed updated public health advice from New Zealand officials and a growing number of cases and locations of interest.

The pause would run for at least four days from 1.59am (NZT) July 16 and be subject to further review on Monday.

Yesterday Hipkins said Kiwis in Melbourne worried the Victoria travel bubble could be paused should come home as soon as possible.

Hipkins' message to Kiwis came after seven locally-acquired cases were reported in Melbourne yesterday.

"I want to encourage anyone with concerns about the potential of a pause to quarantine-free travel, to organise to get home as soon as possible," he said.

Earlier today it was reported that Melbourne would be plunged back into Covid-19 lockdown tonight - for the fifth time.

Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins announced a pause on the quarantine free travel bubble from New Zealand to Victoria. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The lockdown was expected to last between three and five days as health authorities worked to contain two separate Delta strain clusters and a rapidly expanding list of exposure sites, News.com.au reported.

In New Zealand, no new community cases were reported in the community - while five were detected in MIQ.

The five infected people in MIQ had arrived from the UK, Brazil and Fiji.

Two vessels in New Zealand waters have now been faced with Covid-19 outbreaks among crew members.

The Spanish-flagged shipping vessel Playa Zahara has sixteen infected crew members - and is en route to Lyttleton.

The fishing vessel Viking Bay, also Spanish-flagged, had 15 crew member with the virus who are all now in an MIQ facility in Wellington.