Bette-May Waine (right) welcomes her granddaughter Mackenzie Waine (center) and family from Australia for a holiday at Auckland International Airport on April 13, 2022. New Zealand borders reopened to Australian tourists from 11:59 pm on April 12, 2022. Photo: VCG

New Zealand will fully reopen to the world in August, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Wednesday, 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 July 31.

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.

Those restrictions have already been dropped for New Zealand residents and travelers from nations with visa-free agreements. But the rest of the world had been told to wait until October.

Ardern told a business audience in Auckland on Tuesday that the date had been brought forward by more than two months as part of a raft of announcements to reinvigorate the economy - most notably the ailing tourism industry.

"This will be welcome news for families, businesses and our migrant communities. It also provides certainty and good preparation time for airlines and cruise ship companies planning a return to New Zealand in the peak spring and summer seasons," she said.

AFP