New Zealand will fully reopen to the world in August, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has said, ending one of the toughest anti-Covid-19 border restrictions.
Border safeguards will be lifted fully and all pre-departure testing dropped from 11.59 pm on 31 July, with Ms Ardern saying "New Zealand is in demand and now fully open for business".
The controls dating back to March 2020 have been hailed as world-leading in some quarters, with New Zealand boasting one of the lowest coronavirus death rates among developed nations.
However, critics have decried the system as lacking flexibility and compassion, as well as curtailing the economy. For much of the pandemic, all international arrivals had to undergo two weeks of quarantine in government-run hotel facilities patrolled by the military.