MIQ spaces ‘extremely limited’ until March

WELLINGTON: Managed isolation and quarantine facilities are expected to have no spare rooms in the next two weeks.

According the latest Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) daily 14day forecast, spaces in such facilities are ‘‘extremely limited’’ until March, but some might become available as travel plans changed.

MIQ facilities around the country had a combined operational capacity of 4500 rooms — in the next 14 days, 4299 of these rooms will be full with 5627 people staying in them.

MBIE said rooms were occupied for a minimum of 14 days and additional time was needed for cleaning and maintenance. This meant this full 14day period was considered as opposed to room availability on any single day.

Rooms that were vacant on one day might be needed for an incoming flight the next day, so were not actually available.

For various reasons, such as international travel volatility, not all people who had vouchers would use them, and MBIE said vouchers were released as they became available.

In total, 93,898 people had been through MIQ facilities since

March 26 last year.

A MIQ spokesman said managing the country’s 32 managed isolation facilities, and the almost 5800 people staying in them, was a complex logistical exercise.

There were facilities in Auckland, Hamilton, Rotorua, Wellington and Christchurch. The spokesman said there were no plans to establish MIQ facilities in any other locations.

‘‘A key constraint on adding new facilities is the essential workforce who care for returnees. We need nurses, defence personnel and police to run these facilities, and this is a limited workforce.

‘‘In addition to workforce supply issues, there are a number of complex issues that need to be considered when operating in a Level 4 environment. This includes the limited number of suitable facilities that are in locations where there is also a suitable hospital facility and proximity to appropriate transport hubs.’’

The spokesman said MIQ had a strong relationship with airlines flying to New Zealand and it was communicating with them about the increasing demand for vouchers and space in managed isolation facilities.

Due to the international upheaval to air travel caused by Covid19, flight data could be very changeable, but the MIQ spokesman said it was in constant contact with airline carriers.

‘‘Airlines advise us of their confirmed flight schedules, which we then load into the managed isolation allocation system,’’ the spokesman said.

‘‘We are limited to how far out we can upload information from airlines, and confirmations of flights more than two to three months ahead are very unreliable as they are highly susceptible to change.

‘‘This will impact on people booking when they are unable to find their flight details in the managed isolation allocation system, because the flight has not been registered or the time has been altered.’’

The spokesman said MIQ encouraged people to contact their airlines to confirm their flights in these situations, and this had been mentioned on the Managed Isolation Allocation System website when it went live on October 5.

Most airlines were selling tickets that were fully flexible, the spokesman said. — RNZ

❛ A key constraint on adding new facilities is the essential workforce who care for returnees. We need nurses, defence personnel and police to run these facilities, and this is a limited workforce