This would take effect on November 14 but only for fully vaccinated travellers
There are other conditions too; please read on
Venkat Raman
Auckland, October 28, 2021
People returning to New Zealand will be required to stay in Managed Isolation facilities only for seven days, followed by self-isolation in their homes, it has been announced.
Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins and Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said that the new system will come into effect from November 14, 2021.
The decision follows growing criticism of the MIQ system, its efficacy and need and most important of all, the negligible number of positive cases found among people in MIQ.
Some terms and conditions
However, only those who are fully vaccinated will be allowed to cut short their stay in MIQ for seven days. They will be tested on arrival and on the third and sixth day for any positive signs and will be obliged to undertake a rapid antigen test before leaving the MIQ facility.
According to Mr Hipkins, the decision will free up to 1500 rooms a month in MIQ, some of which will be utilised for community cases and some for travellers from overseas coming under the MIQ system.
Today’s decision will allow the return of New Zealand citizens, people who have valid visas and then other groups such as international students.
Mr Hipkins said that tourists posed some challenges and that a new regime will be in place early next year, which will be ‘quite different from the way it has been over the past 18 months.’
“As a country, we owe a massive vote of thanks to our front-line MIQ and border workers,” he said.
The Traffic Lights System
The government is also opening the border under the Traffic Light System with quarantine-free travel for people from low-risk countries including Samoa, Tonga and Tokelau.
They will not be required to undergo isolation.
This facility will come into effect from November 8, 2021.
Mr Hipkins said that the third stage will involve more people isolating at home from the first quarter of 2022.
Emphasising the importance of Vaccination, he said, “The faster New Zealanders get fully vaccinated the faster we will be able to open the border, moving to the Traffic Light System. New Zealanders understand that the government does not want to accelerate the spread of Covid-19 by lowering restrictions before reaching high levels of vaccination.”
Meanwhile, Mr Hipkins said that There were 89 new community cases of Covid-19 reported in New Zealand today.
The Opposition view
National Party Covid-19 Response Spokesperson Chris Bishop welcomed the changes but argued that it was short of expectations.
“I would describe them as the bare minimum that the government could do. The tragedy of all of this is that the government could have been collecting vaccination data on travellers to New Zealand much earlier than August 23, 2021 and we have never had an adequate explanation from the government as to why they did not bother. We could have made these changes earlier and the thousands of cases of hardship that we see at the border that populate and fill MPs’ inboxes every day … some of them could have been avoided,” he said.
Mr Bishop said that it was a good step in tearing down a partial barrier to fortress New Zealand and would help reduce the impact of the MIQ ‘lottery of human misery.’
“But we cannot remain the hermit kingdom forever. We need to reopen to the world and hence we have a lot more work to do,” he said.
There were 89 new community cases of Covid-19 reported in New Zealand today.
