Wellington, June 16 (TIWN) Travellers to New Zealand will no longer require a pre-departure Covid test from June 20, a Minister said here on Thursday.

"We've taken a careful and staged approach to reopening our borders to ensure we aren't overwhelmed with an influx of Covid-19 cases. Our strategy has worked and as a result, it's safe to lift pre-departure test requirements much sooner than planned," Xinhua news agency quoted Covid-19 Response Minister Ayesha Verrall as saying in a statement.

Around 90 per cent of international arrivals undertake their required testing once they are in the country, with only a 2-3 per cent positivity rate, she said, adding they don't anticipate a significant increase in border cases once the requirement is lifted.