New Zealand will welcome tourists again next year. Nareeta Martin / Unsplash
New Zealand will welcome tourists again next year. Nareeta Martin / Unsplash
New Zealand will welcome tourists again next year. Nareeta Martin / Unsplash
New Zealand will welcome tourists again next year. Nareeta Martin / Unsplash

New Zealand reopening to vaccinated tourists in April


Hayley Skirka
  • English
  • Arabic

New Zealand will welcome vaccinated tourists in early 2022, reopening to visitors for what will be the first time in almost two years.

From January, border restrictions will ease to allow fully vaccinated citizens from Australia to return to New Zealand. The following month, citizens from the rest of the world will be able to return.

In April, tourists will once again be able to travel to New Zealand, so long as they are fully vaccinated against Covid-19. A long list of vaccinations are accepted, including Sinopharm, which was widely used in the UAE.

New Zealand's Covid-19 response minister Chris Hipkins said that all inoculated individuals would be able to travel to the country from Saturday, April 30.

New Zealand will reopen to tourists in April after being closed for two years. Photo: Tom Roberton
New Zealand will reopen to tourists in April after being closed for two years. Photo: Tom Roberton

Immunised citizens living in Australia can re-enter from Monday, January 17, with no managed isolation required.

Foreign visitors can enter from Monday, February 14.

Travellers will have to undergo a mandatory seven-day period of self-isolation upon arrival. A negative Covid-19 test result will also be needed to enter the country, and there will be testing on arrival, and a follow-up test during the home quarantine period, before travellers can venture into the community.

“Closing our border was one of the first steps we took to keep our country safe from Covid-19 and it’ll be the last thing we open up,” Hipkins said.

New Zealand has been closed to tourists since March 2020. Photo: Bloomberg
New Zealand has been closed to tourists since March 2020. Photo: Bloomberg

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced a snap border closure in March 2020, in the very early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The government introduced a strict managed quarantine system which has seen several citizens unable to return home since the onset of the global pandemic.

Further details for how the home isolation period will work for travellers will be revealed in December.

Air New Zealand, the country's national airline, had already announced that it would only accept fully vaccinated passengers for travel.

The news comes after New Zealand introduced a new traffic-light alert system to manage Covid-19 in the country. The system classifies areas as green, orange or red with increasingly strict controls for each category. It comes into place on Friday, December 3.

THE BIO

Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979

Education: UAE University, Al Ain

Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6

Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma

Favourite book: Science and geology

Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC

Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.

What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
 
  • Grade 9 = above an A*
  • Grade 8 = between grades A* and A
  • Grade 7 = grade A
  • Grade 6 = just above a grade B
  • Grade 5 = between grades B and C
  • Grade 4 = grade C
  • Grade 3 = between grades D and E
  • Grade 2 = between grades E and F
  • Grade 1 = between grades F and G
Labour dispute

The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.


- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law 

COMPANY PROFILE

Founders: Sebastian Stefan, Sebastian Morar and Claudia Pacurar

Based: Dubai, UAE

Founded: 2014

Number of employees: 36

Sector: Logistics

Raised: $2.5 million

Investors: DP World, Prime Venture Partners and family offices in Saudi Arabia and the UAE

Quick pearls of wisdom

Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”

Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.” 

How to report a beggar

Abu Dhabi – Call 999 or 8002626 (Aman Service)

Dubai – Call 800243

Sharjah – Call 065632222

Ras Al Khaimah - Call 072053372

Ajman – Call 067401616

Umm Al Quwain – Call 999

Fujairah - Call 092051100 or 092224411

New UK refugee system

 

  • A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
  • Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
  • A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
  • To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
  • Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
  • Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Power: 510hp at 9,000rpm
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Price: From Dh801,800
The specs

Engine: 6.2-litre supercharged V8

Power: 712hp at 6,100rpm

Torque: 881Nm at 4,800rpm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 19.6 l/100km

Price: Dh380,000

On sale: now 

500 People from Gaza enter France

115 Special programme for artists

25   Evacuation of injured and sick

Roll of honour 2019-2020

Dubai Rugby Sevens
Winners: Dubai Hurricanes
Runners up: Bahrain

West Asia Premiership
Winners: Bahrain
Runners up: UAE Premiership

UAE Premiership
}Winners: Dubai Exiles
Runners up: Dubai Hurricanes

UAE Division One
Winners: Abu Dhabi Saracens
Runners up: Dubai Hurricanes II

UAE Division Two
Winners: Barrelhouse
Runners up: RAK Rugby

The Kingfisher Secret
Anonymous, Penguin Books

WHAT IS GRAPHENE?

It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were experimenting with sticky tape and graphite, the material used as lead in pencils.

Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But when they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.

By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.

In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. 

Key findings of Jenkins report
  • Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
  • Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
  • Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
  • Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
Company%20Profile
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THE%20SPECS
%3Cp%3EBattery%3A%2060kW%20lithium-ion%20phosphate%3Cbr%3EPower%3A%20Up%20to%20201bhp%3Cbr%3E0%20to%20100kph%3A%207.3%20seconds%3Cbr%3ERange%3A%20418km%3Cbr%3EPrice%3A%20From%20Dh149%2C900%3Cbr%3EAvailable%3A%20Now%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
MATCH INFO

Group B

Bayern Munich v Tottenham, midnight (Thursday)

Updated: November 24, 2021, 6:45 AM