Responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2022

See also: COVID-19 pandemic and Timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2022

Main article: Timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

This article documents the chronology of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2022, originating in Wuhan, China in December 2019. Some developments may become known or fully understood only in retrospect. Reporting on this pandemic began in December 2019.

Reactions and measures in South, East and Southeast Asia

8 March

• Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob has announced that Malaysia will fully reopen its borders to foreign travellers from 1 April. Fully vaccinated travellers will be allowed to enter the country with having to undergo quarantine. ^[1]

Reactions and measures in the Western Pacific

1 March

• The New Zealand Cabinet has approved the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine for people aged 18 and above. The first doses are expected to arrive in the country in March 2022. ^[2]

9 March

• New Zealand COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins announced that the isolation period for COVID-19 positive cases and household contacts would be reduced from ten days to seven days from 11:59pm on 11 March 2022. ^[3]

16 March

• New Zealand will allow fully-vaccinated tourists from Australia to enter the country from 13 April 2022 without having to go into managed or self-isolation. ^[4]

18 March

• American Samoa's Department of Health has suspended all flights to the Manu'a Islands after 800 cases were reported on the main island of Tutuila. ^[5]
• The Vanuatu Government has imposed a curfew in commercial stores and ordered the closure of roadside food stalls and kava bars in response to a surge in cases nationwide. ^[5]

23 March

• New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that the Government would ease outdoor and indoor gathering restrictions by 11:59pm on 25 March 2022. In addition, vaccine pass requirements and the vaccine mandates for educators, Police, and Defence Force personnel would be eliminated from 11:59pm on 4 April. ^{[6] [7]}

See also

• Timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2022
• Responses to the COVID-19 pandemic

References

1. "Malaysia to reopen borders from April with quarantine waiver". Reuters . 8 March 2022. Archived from the original on 9 March 2022. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
2. Hipkins, Chris (1 March 2022). "Third COVID-19 vaccine, Novavax, approved". Beehive.govt.nz. New Zealand Government. Archived from the original on 2 March 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
3. "Isolation length to be shortened for Covid cases and contacts". 1News . 9 March 2022. Archived from the original on 9 March 2022. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
4. Trevett, Claire (16 March 2022). "Covid 19 Omicron outbreak: Tourists from Australia allowed back in New Zealand next month, others to follow soon after". The New Zealand Herald . Archived from the original on 15 March 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
5. "A summary of Covid in other parts of the Pacific". Radio New Zealand . 18 March 2022. Archived from the original on 18 March 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
6. Neilson, Michael (23 March 2022). "Covid 19 Omicron rules changed: Outdoor gathering limits scrapped; vaccine passes and some mandates end April 4 - Jacinda Ardern". The New Zealand Herald . Archived from the original on 23 March 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
7. Whyte, Anna (23 March 2022). "PM reveals changes to mandates, vaccines passes and restrictions". 1News . Retrieved 23 March 2022.