MIQ changes within weeks, Hipkins says

Covid-19 Minister Chris Hipkins says the managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) system will be changed within weeks for fullyvaccinated people arriving into New Zealand.

But he warned this doesn’t necessarily mean lots of MIQ rooms will become available as some will be allocated to people who become infected with Covid and need to be quarantined.

The Cabinet is expected to announce changes to the MIQ system today.

Hipkins said the Government was considering shortening MIQ stays for returnees who have been fully vaccinated.

‘‘We’re looking very closely at MIQ settings in light of the fact we are seeing fewer cases coming over the border, more fully vaccinated travellers coming across the border, and an increase in the number of community cases – so we’re looking at the balance to make sure we’ve got our settings right,’’ Hipkins said. He told Newsroom these changes would likely include shorter MIQ stays in the immediate future, but the entire MIQ system would eventually be replaced with home isolation. ‘‘It’s likely to be in the next few months that there will be much greater freedom to move in and out of the country with isolating at home being the default,’’ Hipkins told Newsroom. ‘‘We’ll be announcing it this week, within weeks we’ll be implementing the changes.’’ Hipkins cautioned that the initial shift would not necessarily open up that more rooms, as some of the MIQ capacity would be needed for community cases in the current outbreak.

‘‘It will very much depend on how many people we need to accommodate from within the community – there is a significant growth in demand from those in the community who are unable to isolate at home safely,’’ Hipkins said.

‘‘So we think it will be a modest increase [in rooms available] it won’t be a huge increase – it will certainly not double the capacity of anything like that.

‘‘When we make the announcement we will be able to give a bit more of an indication on that.’’

All arrivals into New Zealand – other than travellers from some Pacific nations – are currently required to spend two weeks in a managed isolation hotel, regardless of their vaccination status or the country they arrived from.