New Zealand fully reopens borders, marking end of COVID controls

New Zealand has fully reopened to international visitors, ending the last of the travel restrictions introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic [File: Loren Elliott/Reuters]

New Zealand has fully reopened to international visitors, lifting the last remnants of one of the toughest border regimes introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The country began reopening its borders in February with the lifting of restrictions on New Zealand citizens, followed in May by the return of tourists from more than 50 countries including the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.