COVID-19: New Zealand / Australia travel bubble suspended

Although initially saying that the bubble would stay in place, Paul Kelly, Australia’s Chief Medical Officer called a late night meeting on Sunday with the chief health officers of three states: NSW, Queensland and Victoria.

The decision was made to classify all flights out of New Zealand as eminating from a Red Zone, and consequently subjecting all arrivals in the next 72 hours to 14 days of quarantine.

This is expected to be a temporary measure, with the one way bubble being re-instated on Wednesday, if the Auckland lockdown is lifted.

Yesterday, Auckland was locked down for 3 days due to a small cluster being discovered when a traveller tested positive post-quarantine, with two community contacts of that traveller also testing positive.

2PAXfly Takeout

This is another timely reminder to wear your seatbelt when seated. Holding you close to your seat will protect you from the sort of injuries sustained on this flight, when unsecured passengers flew to the ceiling of the aircraft, and then came crashing down once the ‘drop’ ceased.

The hope will be that this is an anomaly – a ‘freak accident’ in casual parlance. If it is a systemic error either mechanical or electronic, then this is a larger concern for the airlines that fly Boeing Dreamliner 787 aircraft. Let’s hope it isn’t. If it is, it will pile on the woes to Boeing’s existing stack.

Lets hope this outbreak is quickly controlled, and Kiwi’s can return to their overwhelmingly normal lives