There has been a mixed response to the three-step border opening plan. Photo / AP
EDITORIAL
New Zealand's upcoming border changes have drawn criticism from people who want them now, not staggered over summer.
There are reasons to feel sympathetic to that viewpoint, especially on behalf of New Zealanders based overseas who have been shut out of their home country. The new rules will be a major advance on the MIQ lottery.
Flight Centre managing director David Coombes said: "We do question why this action needs to wait until 2022, given the desperation of many families to reunite with their loved ones ahead of Christmas."
Justin Tighe-Umbers, of the New Zealand Aviation Coalition, said overseas airlines are "looking at our high vaccination rates and how out of step we are with the rest of the world which is opening up, they can't understand it".
Delaying or spreading out three border steps between mid-January to the end of April does help the Government manage a lot of other change in the country's Covid-19 response in a short space of time.
It also crucially gives people time to get used to it. Not overloading the amount of change is a sensible move, especially as a poll showed some Kiwis are confused by the traffic light system which is heading their way in just under a week.
The logistical challenges of the Delta outbreak on the country's health system, MIQ and police resources have to be managed carefully.
Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins noted that: "There's a lesson to learn from those countries overseas who have tried to do too much at once when it comes to reconnecting".
He added that it "often leads to a big surge in cases and it means that you have to go backwards".
For most people there's quite a lot to deal with between now and January 17 when fully vaccinated New Zealand citizens can return from Australia, with home self-isolation.
People are preoccupied with work and family arrangements for the Christmas and New Year holidays; getting vaccine passes ready; some are still receiving vaccine doses and others are having booster shots. Auckland is braced for the border reopening on December 15.
However, people are also thinking ahead, and the tourism industry at least has some firm dates. In less than a day after the border announcement, Air New Zealand took in about 17,000 international bookings.
Some medical experts have said that fully vaccinated returnees are low risk and could be arriving now without going through MIQ, especially considering that people actually known to have the coronavirus are presently allowed to self-isolate at home.
The Government says it is attempting to avoid infection levels rising too much in the holiday season. Introducing the border changes next year will also allow more time for vaccination.
And the emergence of a new strain of Covid from southern Africa, today designated a 'variant of concern' by the WHO and called Omicron, shows how uncertain the pandemic situation still is. The UK and EU are suspending travel from that area, but it is already being picked up in Europe. We can at least carefully monitor how it plays out from relative safety.
New Zealand's upcoming new border rules will involve layers of defence, including: a negative pre-departure test; an arrival test; proof of vaccination status; a declaration of travel history; seven days of self-isolation, and a negative test before entering the community.
One thing that has been obvious with the Delta outbreak is that Kiwis are having very different experiences of it. Among the locals most frustrated with the border situation are vaccinated regular travellers, keen to take off themselves, and the travel sector they deal with.
From February 14, fully vaccinated New Zealanders from countries beyond Australia can bypass MIQ, meaning Kiwis wanting to fly from here for tourist trips can avoid it as well.
Then, from the end of April, foreign vaccinated travellers can come in. At least at this stage they would be required to self-isolate for seven days. That could prove to be impractical, especially as self-isolation will reportedly be reliant on people being co-operative and honest. That requirement could put foreign travellers off, reduce the number of available flights in and out of the country, and potentially have an impact on costs to travellers.
The date also seems a long way off, but it will coincide with the Northern Hemisphere emerging from its cold months with, hopefully, lower Covid infection rates. Europe is going through its second Covid winter wave.
By then many New Zealanders will have had a chance to have a booster shot. Data from the UK shows boosters helping to protect the elderly - the first to get them - in November compared to October. The third shot doesn't just restore waning immunity, it increases it.
Badly suffering tourism businesses could experience large pent-up demand for the next few years. With the pandemic making travel a more complex task, the services of a trusty travel agent will come in handy for those venturing offshore.
The pandemic has shown that time is precious and a lot can be missed in two years. The country has been cut off for a long time. Yet caution is still needed.
The process of opening up needs to be controlled and composed.