This means that the reopening will take place two months earlier than originally planned.
"This will be welcome news for families, businesses and our immigrant communities. It also means that airlines and cruise lines planning to return to New Zealand will have plenty of time to plan for the peak season in the spring and summer," Arden said at a meeting with business representatives.
New Zealand has imposed strict restrictions and has repeatedly closed its borders to prevent the spread of the virus. The country has also been praised for having one of the lowest COVID-19 death rates in the world.
However, critics believe that the government has been too inflexible in its handling of the pandemic, which they believe has damaged the economy to an unreasonably high extent.
For example, those who have visited the country have been forced to sit in a two-week quarantine in special hotels patrolled by the military for most of the pandemic.
Tourism was by far the most important source of income for New Zealand before the Covid outbreak, bringing in the equivalent of around SEK 110 billion per year.
