‘No question’ self-isolation will happen
Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins says a self-isolation model is still on the cards for returnees but has not provided a date for when that will happen.
Hipkins spoke to the media yesterday following the Government’s decision to postpone managed isolation rooms for March and April.
The January 20 allocation of MIQ rooms was postponed on Tuesday night and further rooms won’t be released until a decision has been made on the border reopening.
A spokesperson for Grounded Kiwis said shutting borders was a ‘‘blunt instrument’’, while opposition MPs called it a ‘‘futile’’ approach, delivered initially through an online media release.
Hipkins said there was ‘‘no question’’ the Government was moving to a self-isolation model but could not provide a timeframe, saying officials had to consider how the Omicron variant could change border arrangements.
‘‘We have to recognise MIQ is very full . . . we have got a system that has generally operated with two or three positive cases at the border which is now operating at between 40 and 50 positive cases a day.’’ The focus would be on getting booster rates up and immunising as many 5 to 11-yearolds as possible before the Omicron strain took hold in the community, Hipkins said.
MIQ would continue for some time, Hipkins said, likely for unvaccinated people.
The Government said in November that double vaccinated New Zealand citizens and residents could return from Australia without entering MIQ from January 17, and from all other countries from February 14.
It was decided April 30 would be the date to reopen borders to vaccinated foreign nationals.
Hipkins said he could not provide certainty on the border reopening yet, as discussions were ongoing.
The MIQ pause would be extended until a decision had been made on border reopening.
‘‘No decisions have been made on the date, sequence and conditions for the border reopening, and Cabinet will consider options within the next couple of weeks based on the most up-to-date advice,’’ he said in a statement earlier yesterday.
‘‘Until then, we are not in a position to release more MIQ rooms.’’
But a spokesman for Grounded Kiwis, a group of New Zealanders stuck abroad, said shutting borders was a ‘‘blunt instrument’’ to deal with the pandemic – an initial response which was no longer sustainable.
‘‘We shouldn’t be using the same response [from] two years ago, to manage this virus, it is a temporary measure at best and a blunt instrument, it is time there was a much more nuanced approach,’’ Martin Newell of Grounded Kiwis said.
He said many understood measures needed to be taken to deal with Omicron but New Zealanders were dealing with a ‘‘disappointing’’ and ‘‘devastating’’ decision, which had no end in
sight. ‘‘They have had effectively a closing of the New Zealand border.’’
Newell said if the motivation was to curb the risk of Omicron, it was ‘‘bizarre’’ the Government had paused the room release for March and April but was allowing returnees for the next six weeks.
Grounded Kiwis currently has legal action under way against the Government, over the design and operation of the MIQ system.
That hearing has been delayed for procedural matters and will now be heard by the High Court on February 14-15.
ACT Party leader David Seymour said it was ‘‘futile’’ to stop New Zealanders, and Omicron, from entering the country.
‘‘It is going to be out and, I will take a bet with you, it will be out by the end of February.
‘‘We will have to be so lucky for that not to happen.’’
He did not think the benefit of delaying Omicron in the shortterm outweighed the costs of people being stuck overseas and for industries dependent on open borders.
Seymour called for selfisolation for people entering the country and criticised the move to delaying this for those returning from Australia.
However, leading epidemiologists, such as Michael Baker, have recommended tightening border restrictions in the face of Omicron.
In a statement, National Party MP and Covid-19 response spokesman Chris Bishop called for clarity on border reopening plans – saying the sooner that MIQ could end, the better.
He criticised the Government’s handling of the decision.
‘‘The Government has basically closed the border without so much as a ministerial press release. Instead, a million Kiwis found out there would be no more MIQ room releases through a message posted on the MIQ website and tweeted late at night by the MBIE [Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment] account,’’ Bishop said.