After Ardern’s announcement last month, the Insurance Council of New Zealand warned that while travellers should still take out travel insurance, they won’t be completely covered in a pandemic.
“In addition to the normal travel insurance cover, some policies may include cover for specific COVID-19 claims such as cancellation costs if you contract COVID-19 and can’t travel, costs to return home if a relative gets sick with COVID-19 or costs if you get sick with COVID-19 and need to quarantine while overseas. Some also cover reasonable costs if the person you are supposed to stay with gets COVID-19 and you need to find alternative accommodation,” chief executive Tim Grafton said.
“However, as discussed over the last few days, border closures imposed by a government are not covered by any insurer as it is simply not possible to develop a product that accounts for the uncertainty and the level of risk this presents.
“Insurers and customers need certainty of the exact dates and times borders open or close so that they know when cover is available and when it is not.”
The Opposition has been pushing for a travel bubble between New Zealand and Australia for months but the Opposition recently ramped up that pressure even further, launching a petition calling for its immediate implementation.
“We just need to make sure when we do it, we get it right,” Ardern said. “A petition isn’t what makes this decision – we make it based on health advice and when we believe we’ve got everything in place.”
Both New Zealand and Australia celebrated Easter weekend in a relatively unrestricted way as both countries reported no new community COVID-19 cases.
Queensland, which was the epicentre of a recent, small community outbreak, has only had one infection in the past three days. The state currently has the tightest restrictions out of the two countries.
