The Australia-New Zealand travel bubble will close from midnight on Friday in response to outbreaks of the CCP virus in Australia, effectively shutting out the rest of the world once again. This comes after the NZ government allowed a seven-day grace period to allow eligible travellers in Australia—except in the state of New South Wales, which is amidst a prolonged lockdown—to return to New Zealand without the need for quarantine. “The Delta variant has materially changed the risk profile,” said NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, whose cabinet made the decision to close the border last Thursday. Friday night’s border closure ends a four-month period of quarantine-free travel between the two neighbouring countries, though it remained partially closed often due to outbreaks in Australia. That’s in keeping with the ‘hotspot’ model deployed by Australian states, where states quickly lock down borders when new cases emerge. However, New Zealand has now abandoned that …