Wellington's Grand Mercure managed isolation facility has just one guest to maintain the 'cohorting system' between incoming and arriving guests.
The cohorting system for managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) was introduced at the end of April to reduce the risk of in-facility transmission.
Arrivals over a 96-hour window are delivered to MIQ facilities until it's full or the 96-hour period is over. The facilities then close their doors until the end of the cohorting cycle, with no additional arrivals allowed in until after the last of the cohort have completed their stay.
A spokesperson for MIQ confirmed to Newshub that, because of the cohorting system, just one person was staying at the Grand Mercure in Wellington earlier this week.
"Other guests have not been staying at this facility to maintain the cohorting system between incoming and arriving guests," the spokesperson said.
"The last cohort of 65 returnees left on October 21. The next cohort of 105 returnees arrived yesterday, October 28."
The Grand Mercure MIQ has 89 isolation rooms and 13 quarantine rooms. However, from May to early October, capacity was halved while maintenance work was carried out on the facility's ventilation systems, the spokesperson said.
"During quieter periods, the on-site health team work remotely to support their nursing colleagues in Auckland."
National's COVID-19 spokesperson Chris Bishop said it's unbelievable.
"This is a massive slap in the face for the tens of thousands of Kiwis offshore who are desperately trying to come home and who are forced to participate in the lottery of human misery that is the MIQ system.
"This news will go down like a cup of warm sick. While stranded Kiwis have been logging in and spending hours sitting at a computer screen in the MIQ virtual lobby and lodging desperate emergency allocation requests, almost an entire hotel stood empty.
"This would be comical if it wasn't so painful for so many Kiwis who are desperate to see their families, whānau, and friends."
Starting from November 14, international arrivals will no longer have to spend two weeks in a state-run facility - rules in place for over a year. Arrivals will spend seven days in MIQ, followed by home isolation and a negative test.
The reduced seven-day stay means the cost of MIQ will be halved to $1610 per person. It's expected to free-up 1500 rooms a month.
Non-New Zealand travellers will be required to be vaccinated to enter the country from November 1.
The changes couldn't come soon enough for the likes of Brad Stephenson, who on his 13th day of MIQ in Auckland, was only allowed out for two hours to see his dying dad in Tauranga, despite being vaccinated and returning five negative tests.
The changes to MIQ were signalled earlier this month after it became evident that the number of local COVID-19 cases were growing faster than the number of new cases found at the border.
On Wednesday, for example, the Ministry of Health registered 74 community cases in New Zealand, compared to four in MIQ. There are currently almost 300 COVID-19 community cases isolating at home.
