Jacinda Ardern lifts New Zealand’s last Covid restrictions and says ‘time to take back control of our lives’

‘This will be the first summer in three years when there won’t be the question of “what if”’

New Zealand’s prime minister Jacinda Ardern has removed almost all of the country’s last remaining Covid-19 restrictions, calling for a return to normalcy for the first time in two years since the pandemic began.

From midnight on Monday, people will no longer be required to wear face masks in public places, although there will be a few exceptions including healthcare settings like hospitals and care homes, Ms Ardern told a news conference in Wellington.

Among other relaxations, New Zealand will be ditching its remaining domestic vaccine mandates – on health care workers – and foreign tourists will no longer need to be vaccinated in order to visit the country. Tourists will be provided free rapid flow tests at the airport and the government “recommends” they test themselves on arrival and after five days.

Ms Ardern said it is finally time “we take control back” from the virus that has dictated “our lives and our futures”.

“The changes we’ve made today are significant. They mark a milestone in our response,” she said. “This is a time when finally – rather than feeling Covid dictates what happens to us, our lives, and our futures – we take control back.”

She added: “This will be the first summer in three years when there won’t be the question of: ‘What if?’”

The country is scrapping its Covid traffic light framework altogether. The system had set out three different levels of restrictions – green being the lightest and red the strictest - to be applied depending on the level of community transmission of Covid in the country.

Household contacts of those who test positive for Covid-19 will no longer need to isolate,

Those who do test positive themselves will still be required to isolate for seven days, however.

The major milestone comes as an outbreak of the Omicron variant appears to have subsided and at the end of winter in the southern hemisphere, with Covid numbers at their lowest since February.

Businesses and workplaces can still impose their own rules, including requiring mask-wearing.

Ms Ardern said the decision was based on recommendations from top health experts, and that restrictions could still be “dialled up” again if required.

“In short, we now move on to a simple two-requirement system of masks in healthcare settings and seven days isolation for positive cases only,” Ms Ardern said.

The move was lauded by members of the business community, who said it will revive the economy.

BusinessNZ chief executive Kirk Hope said it was encouraging to see the government trusting individual businesses again.

“No two sites are the same and each business can decide what works for their own environment when it comes to minimising the spread of Covid-19,” he said.

The country of 5 million people has successfully kept Covid deaths to a minimum throughout the pandemic, though cases rose sharply this year with the more transmissible Omicron variant. Up to March, the country had reported just 65 virus deaths. Even after the outbreak, deaths currently stand at nearly 2,000.