WELLINGTON, New Zealand — New Zealand will soon require that travelers from most countries show negative coronavirus tests before they leave for New Zealand.
COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins says New Zealand is in a fortunate position to have stamped out community spread of the virus, but takes nothing for granted.
The new rules will require travelers to have a negative test within 72 hours of departure.
The rules will be imposed on travelers from the U.S. and the U.K. beginning Friday and most other countries soon after. Travelers from Australia and some Pacific nations will be exempted.
Until now, New Zealand has relied on placing new arrivals into a mandatory two-week quarantine.
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THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:
— President-elect Joe Biden faces challenge in guiding America past the Trump era, but success on virus, economy may help
— Health expert says worst time for Britain’s National Health Service is hitting now
— China says World Health Organization experts will arrive Thursday to investigate the origins of the pandemic
— A doctor using a horse-drawn cart to reach patients in mountain villages in Ukraine worries that its lockdown came too late
— India took a regulatory shortcut for a homegrown vaccine despite scant evidence of its effectiveness
— Follow AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic, https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:
CARSON CITY, Nev. — Nevada is making changes to its distribution plan for coronavirus vaccines in an effort to get shots into residents’ arms more quickly.
The state received its first vaccine shipment four weeks ago but has been struggling to get people inoculated at the rate officials initially anticipated.
Public health officials announced plans Monday to replace the state’s distribution plan and direct providers to concurrently vaccinate high-risk groups. That includes residents with underlying medical conditions and front-line workers the state deems essential, such as teachers, service industry workers, state legislators and mining industry workers.
The plan also lowers the age threshold for priority distribution from 75 to 70.
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WASHINGTON — U.S. health officials have created a website to help people find where they can get antibody drugs for COVID-19, medicines that may help prevent serious illness and hospitalization if used early enough after infection occurs.
Two of these drugs — from Eli Lilly and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals — have been authorized for emergency use in the U.S. but red tape, health care staff shortages and other problems have prevented many patients and doctors from getting them.
Department of Health and Human Services officials said Monday that only 25% of the more than 641,000 treatment courses distributed to states and local health sites have been used…
Read More: New Zealand visitors must show negative test