Border hotels filling up fast

Hotels are cancelling guest bookings to make way for a big increase in returning Kiwis arriving in the country this week.

Nearly 3500 New Zealanders are expected to check in to managed isolation and quarantine facilities over the next few days, with a fifth hotel in Christchurch being converted into a border hotel. There are now 26 border hotels up and running.

Hotel guests in Christchurch have had their bookings cancelled at the Distinction Christchurch Hotel to allow it to take up a six-month government contract. Guests were still able to book rooms just over a week ago but were told on Thursday that the Distinction would be closed for six months.

The 3480 Kiwis expected to check in this week are heaping more pressure on an already-stretched border system. Fresh government projections for New Zealand citizens and permanent residents returning from overseas predict 751 people will arrive this Thursday alone.

About 2200 will leave its facilities after finishing their 14-day quarantine, meaning the number being held in isolation will increase by 1268.

Of the border hotels, 17 are in Auckland, two each in Hamilton and Rotorua, with one in Wellington and five in Christchurch. On Sunday, 4520 people were in Auckland’s facilities, 219 in Hamilton, 413 in Rotorua, 97 in Wellington and a further 597 in Christchurch – a total of 5846 people.

While it would take another 780 people to reach capacity on Sunday, the extra 1268 people has officials planning to boost their total capacity to 6778. As of Sunday, 26,639 people had been through isolation or quarantine since March 26.

Megan Woods, the minister in charge of Covid isolation and quarantine, said after she took on the responsibility last month that the system would cost $81 million by the end of June, putting the cost at close to $3800 for each traveller.

The Government is considering making returnees pay part of that cost but says it is not a straightforward policy.

With the coronavirus pandemic showing no signs of abating, New Zealand is being seen as a safe haven for tens of thousands of citizens and permanent residents.

With the country’s Covid-19 cases now being confined to the border, the need for strict enforcement of the rules at these facilities continues to grow, after a woman fled her managed isolation hotel in Auckland over the weekend.

Australian authorities have been forced to lock down overcrowded tower blocks in Melbourne after an outbreak was fanned by the virus leaking out of quarantine hotels.

Nearly 3500 New Zealanders are expected to check in over the next few days.