Australia has closed its border to New Zealanders for the next 72 hours, after a case of the South African strain of COVID-19 was recorded in New Zealand.
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The "green zone" arrangements for New Zealand have been suspended while authorities wait to see if there has been transmission in the country.
People who have arrived in Australia from New Zealand since January 14 are asked to self isolate, and arrange to get tested and stay in isolation until they receive a negative result, Health Minister Greg Hunt said.
People with flights booked to arrive in the next 72 hours are told to reconsider their need to travel, because they will be required to enter hotel quarantine on their entry into Australia if they do choose to fly.
The decision was made by the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee based on the information that the woman had the South African strain, which is believed to be more transmissable, and the high number of exposure sites connected to the woman with the virus.
"It's just the combination of the transmissibility of the variant, and the circumstances of the particular case, the time between exiting hotel quarantine and the confirmation of the South African variant and the number of places that were visited, which led the AHPPC to give us categorical strong, clear, unanimous advice," Mr Hunt said.
"In the face of that, we've acted."
Authorities are wary of the South African variant as they are with the variant in the United Kingdom.
"This new variant is more transmissible and presents a heightened level of risk," assistant chief medical officer Michael Kidd said.
On Sunday, health authorities revealed a 56-year-old Northland woman had tested positive for the virus after completing her 14-day isolation after arrival in New Zealand.
The woman who became sick in Auckland is believed to have caught COVID-19 in hotel quarantine from another traveller.
The woman returned two negative tests while in her compulsory hotel stay, and was released on January 13 before travelling around the region with her husband.
Some of her close contacts have already tested negative.
Two flights from New Zealand are expected to land in Australia later today, with those passengers set to go into hotel quarantine. Mr Hunt said New Zealand authorities were working with those who were set to get on flights this afternoon.
- With AAP