New priority too late for some
A woman struggling to get back into New Zealand to see her terminally ill mum is welcoming a Government change that will make it easier for people in her position.
However, it might come too late for her to say goodbye to her mum, she says.
The criteria for people making emergency applications for managed isolation has been widened into a new tier system, the Government announced yesterday, allowing a better chance for those with dying relatives to get in. While New Zealand citizens with serious health concerns will still get priority under ‘‘category one’’, the new system introduces ‘‘category two’’, which allows people to apply for an emergency allocation under a raft of new criteria.
Citizens or residents visiting a close relative who is dying; those who are unable to remain legally in their current location; people who are needed for a time-critical public or health service or a national security interest; and critical care of a dependent person in New Zealand are all included in the new category.
Davina Stonexmoved to Los Angeles about five years ago and is struggling to get back into the country. She has faced multiple rejections for an emergency exemption to see her mother, from Auckland’s Panmure, who was diagnosed with terminal gallbladder cancer in October. The family have been told their mother may only have weeks left. Stonex has managed to book a flight and get accommodation for late December but she is worried that by that time, plus the two weeks of isolation, it may be too late.
She said it was good the Government had made changes, and she would be applying, but it might be too late for her.
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment deputy chief executive of managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) Megan Main said the emergency allocation process was a last resort option and the threshold was extremely high. ‘‘To be eligible for an emergency allocation, the travel must be time-critical, the applicant must be legally entitled to enter New Zealand, and they must be willing to travel within seven days of making their application.’’
Main said she was confident about 150 rooms could be made available per fortnight for those who need to travel urgently.
Since November 3 when the Managed Isolation Allocation System was introduced, between five and eight rooms in MIQ facilities have gone unused per day as a result of people who have a flight but don’t have a voucher.
Seven-eight rooms have gone unused each day after being allocated to a person who had a flight and a voucher but did not arrive.