For a start, you will likely have to be either a New Zealand citizen or resident, as the Government has not yet factored tourists into its reopening plans. Hipkins has acknowledged tourists posed more of a challenge, as they did not necessarily have a suitable place to isolate on arrival.
When it first announced its reopening plans back in August, the Government indicated they would be introducing a “risk-based pathway system”, with countries deemed low, medium or high risk. But this appears to have been scrapped with the Delta outbreak, with Hipkins saying all travellers coming in from overseas were now considered “relatively equal in risk”.
For the self-isolation pilot, participants were able to travel to and return from any country except those deemed “very high risk” – currently Brazil, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Pakistan and Papua New Guinea.
2. Where will you be able to do it?
The self-isolation pilot was limited to participants coming into either Auckland or Christchurch, who were staying within 50 kilometres of the airports. This was because they wanted participants to be close to MIQ, in case they tested positive for Covid-19.
But it sounds like self-isolation won’t just be limited to these cities when it is rolled out more broadly. As part of the changes to MIQ, the Government is already letting travellers return to their homes for the final isolation period, no matter where they live.
Joint head of MIQ Brigadier Rose King said travellers doing the shorter MIQ stays would be able to take any form of transport to where they were self-isolating. They just had to abide by the relevant rules, for example, mask use, physical distancing and scanning in.
This suggests that even if you are flying into, say, Auckland but want to self-isolate at your home in Dunedin, you should be able to take a domestic flight as normal to get there. But King would only say: “This advice is being developed and the public will be informed once decisions have been made.”
3. What sort of living situation will you need?
In the Strategic Covid-19 Public Health Advisory Group’s report advising the Government on its reopening plans, one major issue was identified with self-isolation. “Most people do not ‘self-isolate’; they isolate with other household members. Experience in Sydney and elsewhere suggests that, with the more transmissible variant, other members of the household (as well as any visitors to the home) will be very likely to become infected themselves – even if efforts are made to keep apart,” the report said.
“So there would be a significant risk of leakage of infection into the community.”
Under the self-isolation pilot, participants were not allowed to isolate with family or other household members. They also had to be in a standalone house, with no shared ventilation system.
So, does that mean that only people who live alone will be able to self-isolate? Or would it be OK to self-isolate with your family as long as they stayed in isolation with you?
King repeated this response: “For future variations on self-isolation, this advice is being developed and the public will be informed once decisions have been made.”
4. How will you be monitored?
Self-isolation can only be successful if officials can be sure those isolating at home are following the rules.
Currently, the rules for the self-isolation pilot are that you have to remain in your residence for 14 days (this will be shortened to 10 days from November 14) and can’t leave the property at any time. Contactless deliveries are OK but the only visitors allowed are medical staff for testing purposes (as well as emergency and other essential services, if required).
While other countries have used things like GPS tracking bracelets, the strategy currently being used for the self-isolation pilot is “regular and random” phone calls, with some contactless “spot checks”. During the calls, you are asked to share your GPS location but they won’t be “constantly monitoring” your location.
However, University of Otago senior lecturer in primary healthcare and general practice Lesley Gray pointed out there would always be “a tiny proportion” who would not follow the requirements.
“We cannot assume one particular population group or another are going to play by the rules or not.”
5. When will home self-isolation become an option?
Hipkins said the Government wanted the country to move into the new traffic light system first, before adding the “additional risk” of international arrivals into the community.
But some experts have questioned why we can’t have more travellers isolating at home now. The whole point of MIQ is to prevent someone from overseas with Covid-19 from bringing the virus into the community – but Covid-19 is already in the community.
“Particularly with the number of cases we have got in Auckland, it does beg the question as to why people travelling into Aotearoa New Zealand – especially into Auckland – would need to be in MIQ for quite so long, or if at all,” said Gray.
