New Zealand will confirm a new reopening plan, with the government to gradually dismantle hard borders after two years largely adrift from the world because of COVID-19.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will on Thursday announce that fully vaccinated Kiwis based in Australia will be allowed to sidestep quarantine, and instead self-isolate on arrival.
The NZ Herald reports this shift will begin from February 27, ending months of misery for separated families and citizens seeking to return to New Zealand but unable to secure a place in the quarantine regime.
An opening to Kiwis - which includes citizens, permanent residents and those usually resident in NZ - in the rest of the world will come within weeks the Australian border shift.
It remains to be seen when tourists and non-Kiwis can enter New Zealand.
NZ has operated a tough border policy since March 2020 in a hardline effort to squash COVID-19.
It has worked spectacularly - first eliminating the virus in 2020, then minimising its impact through 2021 and delaying the arrival of the Delta and Omicron variants.
However, there have been growing calls to lessen quarantine provisions - known locally as MIQ - as Kiwis seek easier pathways in and out of Aotearoa.
The case of Charlotte Bellis, a pregnant Kiwi journalist working in Afghanistan who found herself unable to navigate MIQ rules to come home to give birth, has reignited calls to ease restrictions.
Beyond Ms Bellis, there are thousands of other trans-Tasman families or Kiwis seeking to travel for myriad reasons.
There is also a looming legal challenge to the validity of the MIQ regime, crowdfunded by lobby group Grounded Kiwis, to go before the High Court this month.
But the government has not changed its policy to soothe the pains of these hard-luck stories: it has done so because it recognises the futility of border restrictions if the virus is spreading at home.
Community transmission of Omicron has been detected in NZ over the past fortnight, and case numbers are again rising.
Public health experts and outbreak modellers say NZ's current daily case record - 222 - will be beaten within days, and case numbers will be in the thousands this month.
Thursday's border changes fall short of of the freedom of movement offered last year under the trans-Tasman bubble.
That arrangement, which endured several pauses during its short-lived run from April to July last year, allowed travellers to travel freely between Australia and NZ.
The self-isolation requirement has been imposed as NZ seeks to avoid an explosion of case numbers similar to Australia's experience over summer.
The country's health system is considerably weaker than Australia's, and the government's goal is avoid crisis in the health system.
New Zealand's COVID-19 death toll stands at 53, compared with Australia's 3907.
The NZ Herald also reports the government will offer pathways into the country for workers in industries with critical shortages.
There are widespread labour shortages in NZ - on Wednesday, unemployment fell to just 3.2 per cent - contributing to inflation.
