Staying in MIQ may not be the nicest place to stay, but imagine sharing your room with hundreds of bugs.
Susan Senteney, woke up this morning to see her MIQ room at the Rydges Rotorua was infested with bugs.
"They were in the net curtains, all over the ceiling and the wall," Senteney said.
She immediately rang the hotel's front desk to report the bugs and they told her she couldn't be moved. They suggested they could get her bug spray, but since Senteney is highly allergic to bug spray that wouldn't work.
Next thing she knew a toilet brush was sitting outside her room for her to swat the bugs with.
She called again and asked to speak to the manager, who did not return any of her calls.
When she was called for her third COVID swap she told one of the defence force members about the bug infestation and he said he'd look into it.
They contacted her a while later, telling her that they are waiting to hear back from MIQ since they are the only ones that can move a visitor, which Senteney says is "outrageous".
"[MIQ] only does room changes in exceptional circumstances. I think this would qualify," she said. "If they know there is a bug problem there should certainly be screens on windows."
MIQ denied her room change request, their solution was to give her a vacuum to suck up the bugs.
Senteney was left in tears surrounded by flying bugs.
"No one should be subjected to this."
Senteney lives in Timaru with her partner.
She had returned from the United States after visiting her family and mother who is in palliative care.
"A key facet in prevention involves minimizing returnee traffic in MIFs and particularly in corridors and other communal spaces due to the airborne nature of the virus. Moving guests and their belongings increases the risk of transmission, especially if it's prior to a negative Day 0/1 or Day 3 swab results," an MIQ spokesperson said.
"Apart from scheduled fresh air or smoking breaks, guests should remain in their rooms unless there is a health or maintenance emergency."
"Other than acute emergencies (eg fire, earthquake damage or flood), guests have to return a negative day 1 Covid swab result and two consecutive health checks to confirm they have no symptoms of Covid-19 infection before consideration will be given to a room change for a health or maintenance emergency reason. A room change has to be endorsed by the health team in a facility."
"Other important IPC considerations include not splitting bubbles across rooms or floors and breaking cohorting rules."
"Facilities will have a small number of rooms set aside in case returnees have to be moved for maintenance or health emergencies."
For now Senteney is still "locked in my room with trout flies".
Trout flies are small insects that swarm in large quantities, well known to Rotorua.
