Hon Dr AYESHA VERRALL (Minister for COVID-19 Response): From midnight last night, travellers to New Zealand are no longer required to take a COVID-19 pre-departure test when entering the country. The Government was clear: we intended to remove this requirement for travellers by 31 July. I'm happy to say, we have been able to bring the time line forward as COVID-19 cases have continued to decrease despite nearly 400,000 arrivals since the border reopened. Of those arrivals, 90 percent are undertaking their required testing once they're in the country and only a fraction of those are returning positive results. Removing pre-departure testing is just one more step the Government is taking to safely reconnect New Zealanders to the world.