COVID-19 managed isolation in New Zealand

Compulsory managed isolation and quarantine was announced by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern at the 1pm press conference on 9 April 2020, with the system coming into effect for people boarding flights to New Zealand from midnight that day.

[23] On 1 April, the Government confirmed that it would loosen rules for securing emergency spots in managed isolation; with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) stating that 100 more places in MIQ would be available each fortnight.

[31][32] On 2 August, Prime Minister Ardern announced that seasonal workers from Tonga, Samoa and Vanuatu would be allowed to enter the country without having to undergo managed isolation from September 2021 onwards.

[33][34] On 22 August, the Government began voluntary home isolation of suspected and verified community cases with available quarantine capacity used primarily to house healthy and COVID-19 free returnees.

[36] On 1 September, COVID-19 Response Minister Hipkins confirmed that the Government had extended a pause on MIQ bookings to accommodate community cases from the Auckland August 2021 Delta outbreak.

[42] On 21 October, the Government confirmed that repatriation flights carrying New Zealand citizens who had been deported from Australia under Section 501(3A) of the Australian Migration Act 1958 would resume in November 2021 following a three-month hiatus.

[50][51] Grounded Kiwis member and Australian–based expatriate Maxine Strydom stated that the Government's decision would cause New Zealanders stranded abroad emotional and mental stress since many were facing expiring visas and job losses.

While health economist Professor Paula Lorgelly expressed disappointment with the suspension, she said that she understood the Government's decision, describing it as "a short-term pain for what I perceive to be quite a long-term gain.

[52][53] That same day, Kiwiblog published a guest post by Auckland Barrister Tudor Clee outlining the method to enter New Zealand without obtaining an MIQ voucher prior.

[57] On 17 February, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment amended the public health risk assessment tool to allow more people to be released from MIQ on compassionate grounds.

[58] On 28 February, Ardern announced that the New Zealand Cabinet had decided, based on advice from the epidemiologist David Skegg's team, that vaccinated travellers entering the country would no longer need to self-isolate from 11.59pm on 2 March.

[59] Prior to the Government's announcement, the advocacy group "Grounded Kiwis (which represented New Zealanders stranded abroad by border restrictions) had questioned the rationale for retaining the MIQ system in the light of rising community cases.

In response to media coverage of the memo, Grounded Kiwis spokesperson Martin Newell and National Party leader Christopher Luxon criticised the Government's decision to delay reopening the border to stranded citizens, residents and temporary visa holders.

[75] On 22 June 2022, Radio New Zealand reported that the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment had spent nearly NZ$800 million on leasing agreements with 33 hotels repurposed for MIQ usage between October 2020 and March 2022.

[77] In late January 2022, an Auckland builder named Paul Mullaly described the MIQ system as "cruel and inhumane" after failing to secure a place in order to visit his mother prior to her death in New Zealand.

[78] On 17 February 2022, a survey commissioned by advocacy group "Grounded Kiwis" claimed that 78% of respondents reported that the MIQ system had an adverse impact on their physical and mental health.

[79] Following the downsizing of the MIQ system, Stuff reported in early April 2022 that the New Zealand Defence Force's two-year deployment in Operation Protect to manage the country's border facilities had contributed to rising attrition rates, low morale, and stress among military personnel.

On 20 September 2021, Stuff reported that 26,000 people were competing for 3,000 MIQ spaces listed on the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment website's "virtual lobby" allowing entry to New Zealand in November and December 2021.

[84] On 6 October, a pregnant Auckland woman named Sami filed a legal challenge against MBIE's decision to deny her stranded husband an MIQ voucher so that he could care for her and their child.

MBIE provided a large volume of advice to Ministers at pace, in unprecedented circumstances, and in a high-stakes and constantly changing environment where the risk to public health was high.” [91] In late January 2022, former Al Jazeera journalist Charlotte Bellis unsuccessfully attempted to secure a place in the MIQ lottery after becoming pregnant with her partner Jim Huylebroek, a photographer and contributor to The New York Times.

[93][94][95][96][97][98] In response to media coverage, Chris Bunny, the head of the MIQ system, confirmed that staff had advised Bellis about making a second application that would meet the requirements for emergency travel.

[100] On 1 February 2022, Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson confirmed that the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment had offered Bellis and Huylebroek places in managed isolation.

[103] On 3 September 2021 a mother who tested positive for COVID-19 drew media attention after verbally abusing staff members and military personnel at the Novotel & Ibis Ellerslie MIQ facility.

[108][109] On 8 July, a 32-year-old man, who had arrived from India, was charged with violating Section 26 (1) of the COVID-19 Public Health Response Act 2020 after he escaped managed isolation at the Stamford Plaza Hotel in central Auckland.

[110] On 10 July a man was arrested for violating the COVID-19 Public Health Response Act 2020 after he had cut through a fence at a managed-isolation facility at Distinction Hotel in Hamilton and visited a liquor store the previous night.

[111] On 27 August the Hamilton District Court sentenced him to 40 hours' community service and ordered him to pay NZ$1,000 in reparations for damaging a flat-screen television set in his room.

[121] On 11 November the West Indies cricket team were denied further training privileges after members breached managed-isolation rules by mingling and sharing food while in managed isolation at the "Chateau in the Park" hotel in Christchurch.

[126][127] On 17 June 2021 Radio New Zealand reported that 12 travellers from Samoa at the Crowne Park managed-isolation facility in Auckland had breached managed isolation by socialising on three occasions despite receiving warnings.

[132] On 20 October, joint head of MIQ Brigadier Rose King confirmed that three COVID-19 positive community cases staying at the Holiday Inn hotel near Auckland Airport had allegedly absconded the previous night.

[133] In early September 2021, a pregnant New Zealand woman named Bergen Graham filed a legal challenge against the Health Minister Andrew Little and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment after making six unsuccessful attempts to secure a place in MIQ through the voucher system.