Just four managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) facilities will remain operating by the end of June as the Government begins scaling down its operations now international travel is starting back up.
It was announced last month that fully-vaccinated New Zealanders in Australia could enter without going through MIQ from February 28. Then, New Zealand citizens and residents from the rest of the world began entering from March 5. There is a staged border reopening for people holding other visas and tourists.
COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins says without the requirement to isolate for most, there is a significantly reduced demand for MIQ spots which means they don't need the number of facilities they currently have.
"By the end of June, 28 of the current 32 facilities will leave the MIQ network and return to being hotels," he says.
Rydges Auckland will be the first facility to leave the network. Its contract comes to a natural end on April 30 and it will begin operating as a hotel again from mid-May. Hipkins says conversations with other facilities are ongoing and further details will be made public in due course.
"A small number of hotels will remain part of the system while the Government works through what might be needed in terms of a national quarantine capacity in the future. This could include retaining hotels or purpose-built facilities," he says.
"I expect to receive formal advice on this later in 2022."
Many MIQ staff have already begun going back to their roles in various workforces, including over 300 healthcare workers and nurses, over 230 police, and more than 600 Defence personnel.
"MIQ workers have been at the front line of keeping COVID-19 out of New Zealand, and they have made considerable personal sacrifices to make sure the wider community is safe," Hipkins says.
"They have helped almost 230,000 people return to New Zealand and helped care for more than 4400 people who got COVID-19 in the community and isolated in MIQ facilities.
"Our staff and our facilities have been the front line in our defence that has by and large kept COVID-19 out of the country while we got vaccinated and built up our immunity to the virus. MIQ did the job it was set up for and put us in an enviable position to the world."
A total of 228,381 people have returned to New Zealand through MIQ, as of February 28. In the past year alone - from March 1, 2021 to February 28, 2022 - 112,181 people have returned and 4,364,962 meals were served throughout this time.
