New Zealand’s prime minister Jacinda Ardern is expected to announce plans later this week to reopen the country’s border amid a shortage in workers, APA reports citing The Guardian.
The country’s border has been shut since March 2020 as part of measures to contain the virus. But the dairy, horticulture, housing, services, health and public sector are now undergoing severe labour shortages and have called on the government to reopen the border.
“Any changes to border settings will be carefully considered in phases, based on risks,” Ardern said on Monday. “We have come too far and gained too many freedoms to rush at this next step and go backwards.”
It comes as around 1,500 hospital midwives staged a walkout in response to “critical shortages” and more than 30,000 nurses are to strike later this month.
Last week Ardern opened one-way quarantine-free travel for seasonal workers from Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu, which all have no active Covid cases to address shortages in horticulture.
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