Returnees to New Zealand who break the self-isolation rules announced on Tuesday could receive a fine of up to $12,000, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins says.
But self-isolation won't last forever with Hipkins acknowledging it is not an "indefinite measure" - though he couldn't put an end date on it.
The Government has laid out the rules travellers will need to abide to when managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) is done away with. That will begin on February 28, when vaccinated Kiwis from Australia can return to Aotearoa and bypass MIQ to instead isolate at home.
When they get to New Zealand, the travellers will need to download the NZ COVID Tracer app and will be given three rapid antigen tests (RATs) to use during their isolation period.
Travellers will have to travel directly to their accommodation "avoiding visiting people and entering shops and businesses", wear a mask until they get to their accommodation and follow other usual health measures.
When in isolation, the settings are the same as for close contacts of cases in the community. The isolation period will be seven full days and the returnees will need to report the results of two RATs. Any positive results will be followed up by a PCR test.
Returnees can form bubbles with friends or family, who can still go to work or school, but should minimise contact, with no visitors allowed. There are special circumstances - such as going to a court hearing or to get medical care - that will permit returnees to leave.
But what if someone was to return to New Zealand, get in a mate's car and stop off at the pub on the way home?
"They would be potentially liable under the COVID-19 Public Health Response Act for either a fine or an infringement," Hipkins said on Tuesday. "That can range, depending on the severity of the offending, from a lower level of offence in the hundreds of dollars to high level offences up to $12,000."
The minister said it was up to police to decide what offence would constitute a $12,000 fine.
To reach their accommodation, some travellers may be required to fly domestically or use public transport. With more cases being recorded in New Zealand, Hipkins said there is little additional risk to the community likely to come from that.
"We are moving to a different phase in our response where there will be cases in the community. Someone getting on a plane from Auckland to Wellington, it may well be just as likely to have COVID-19 as someone getting off an international flight and getting on that same flight.
"We have to get used to the fact that there will be more risk in the community and therefore the relative risk of people coming in internally isn't what it used to be."
The plan for reopening New Zealand will see Kiwis from elsewhere around the globe return from mid-March, while tourists from Australia and other visa-waiver countries will be allowed in by July. Everyone else has to wait until October, giving time to Immigration NZ to process visas.
Tourism operators and those wanting to holiday here in New Zealand have complained the self-isolation period is off-putting.
While the Government won't put a date on when self-isolation will end, Hipkins and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern both acknowledged it's not a forever measure.
"We've always said that the self-isolation period is not an indefinite measure. We will move to a point when people won't have to self-isolate when they're coming into the country, but I'm not going to put a timetable on that."
The criteria to decide when to drop self-isolation was also a "decision for the future", Hipkins said.
Ardern said now was not the time to get rid of self-isolation for returnees.
"We are on an upward trend with cases so we do need to continue to be cautious… You have seen overseas when they have come out the other side of their peak and they get into a more stable position with their healthcare and their ability to maintain services, that has opened up more opportunities.
"We will keep that under constant review. We know how important it is that people can move freely at the border."
StatsNZ revealed on Tuesday that the number of people crossing New Zealand's border is the lowest since 1971. There were 826,400 border crossings in 2021 compared to 14.2 million in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
