As the number of positive COVID cases surge in India, New Zealand suspends all travels from India, including its own citizens.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the travel suspension after the country recorded 23 new positive COVID cases at its border. 17 of those 23 cases were from India.

“We are temporarily suspending entry into New Zealand for travelers from India,” Prime minister Ardern said in a news conference.

“I want to emphasize that while arrivals of Covid from India have prompted this measure, we are looking at how we manage high-risk points of departure generally. This is not a country-specific risk assessment,” Ardern added.

The suspension will start on 11 April and will be in place until 28 April. During this time, the government will look at risk management measures to resume travel.

New Zealand has not seen community transmission of the disease for the last 40 days. The country's effort in containing the pandemic was successful and got praises from all over the world.