November 25, 2021
End of MIQ good news for Rotorua
A Rotorua civic leader is welcoming the end of MIQ.
From January 16 fully vaccinated New Zealanders will be able to return from Australia and go into self-isolation at home rather than into hotel-based managed isolation and quarantine.
MIQ for most other travellers will be scaled down in the subsequent months.
Rotorua Lakes councillor Merepeka Raukawa Tait says Rotorua’s three MIQ facilities have taken staff out of hospitals and put extra pressure on health services.
“And also, when you go around the town and you see these big trestles and gates and fences put up, and you see security guards, it really does look as people are, well they are, they’re under police escort there, and that’s not a good look for the town, three of our biggest hotels taken out for over 12 months,” she says.