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Covid

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Original poster

NZ back into lockdown.

714 replies

Malin52 · 17/08/2021 09:00

1 case in the community. All of NZ back into lockdown Level 4 because no link to border found.

Hard and fast.

OP posts:
FiveShelties · 20/08/2021 09:08

@TheGenealogist

Interested in the quarantine thing, *@FiveShelties*.

So say you did want to leave NZ for any reason and travel to the UK or another European country. A New Zealander arrives and their passport is stamped for 90 days entry.

If you then have to arrange your quarantine and you can't get a slot to return for 110 days or something, what are you supposed to do? Stay on illegally in the country you have travelled to and risk never being allowed back in? Or fly anyway and risk the wrath of the NZ authorities when you arrive? Will they even let you book return flights?

It's very draconian and I can see the hoops and restrictions are designed to deter travel. But for people who have to travel it's very hard. The NZ airline industry must be on its knees.

Yes, you just have to stay illegally. We have reports in the press here about people going to become 'overstayers' in other countries because they simply cannot get a slot. You cannot board a flight to NZ without a voucher from Managed Isolation & Quarantine (MIQ). You can book a return flight, but of course you may not be able to return on the flight and then you just have to keep cancelling your flight and re-booking etc etc.

My Mum is 91 and I am desperate to get back to see her in the UK, but there are just no spaces in MIQ. The days are loaded on the booking site until beginning of December but there is not one single day with one single available slot. I have been trying for around six months!

If you want to travel to see a relative who is ill, you have to have confirmation from their specialist which details that they will die within six months. This then means you can access a slot in MIQ, obviously I am hoping this does not become the only way I can travel.

Sorry that is a bit rambling and I hope it makes sense.Smile I have drunk copious amounts of wine over the last year or so as 4 different flights have been cancelled - but at least we make excellent wine and not signs of it running out ---- yet.

Bryonyshcmyony · 20/08/2021 09:12

at least we make excellent wine and not signs of it running out ---- yet

You absolutely do make excellent wine!

TheGenealogist · 20/08/2021 09:25

@FiveShelties that's so hard.

So unless you want to run the risk of being an overstayer in another country, with all the immigration consequences that brings with it, you're stuck?

Why aren't they opening up more spaces in quarantine? And as for the "need a letter saying they have a terminal illness" - how inhumane is that. With the best will in the world your mum is 91 - she's not going to last forever and those sort of predictions are impossible. Are there lots of people in NZ making a fuss about all of this or are the majority quite happy at being locked up in NZ for as long as Jacinda sees fit?

FiveShelties · 20/08/2021 09:43

I think people are unhappy about the situation with MIQ, but most of the publicity is around people who have been living overseas trying to get back. I know quite a few people who are in the same situation as me - there are lots of people here with family in UK, South Africa, Europe etc

I am a Brit, have dual nationality, so I could travel to UK and remain there until eventually I get a space in MIQ or the Covid thing is not such an issue. But I don't want to be in the UK for months with no end date to return and I also scared of travelling and picking up and taking Covid to my Mum who has managed to avoid it for the last 18 months. I have decided that if the situation is still as it is I will return to UK after Christmas and just hope for the best. I know December is going to be really tight for MIQ as lots of people will be trying to get to NZ to see their family for the Christmas holiday.

It is a tough situation and I really don't know if I have made the right decision by not returning over the last year.

Terhou · 20/08/2021 10:00

Out of interest, what is the NZ government's excuse for the MIQ situation? Ardern comes over as being normally a sensible, humane woman, so it seems surprising when it's a problem that is relatively easy to remedy.

FiveShelties · 20/08/2021 10:09

The reason given is simply that there are too many people trying to get spaces! Many spaces have been taken with people returning from the Olympics, people going to an Expo in Dubai and other such things.

I think the space has got so tight because they are treating people in cohorts so if one person gets Covid in MIQ then this means that group of people are held longer, so they have to allow many days after people are supposed to leave to cover for extensions, cleaning etc.

Of course, many people in NZ are happy for the border to remain closed to reduce the risk, but it depends on why you want to leave NZ. I would not think of travelling for a holiday but there is no way to get any sort of priority for what I consider to be valid reason and of course now we are back in Level 4 lockdown the talk of opening/relaxing the border will definitely not be considered important.

fiveminustwocats · 20/08/2021 10:27

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Bryonyshcmyony · 20/08/2021 10:29

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MarshaBradyo · 20/08/2021 11:25

I refuse to waste any more of my valuable time on you.

Thank god for that.

Re the forum a few said the same - your OTT personal attack was Confused

Cornettoninja · 20/08/2021 11:54

Go read your own NZ superior forum then. And that's not nasty

Actually I agree with you here. Yes MN has a very UK centric user base but I’ve seen this argument before with Irish/Scottish and Welsh MNetters and it always descends into other basically getting nastily territorial.

MarshaBradyo · 20/08/2021 12:00

Actually it was due to various posters saying rubbish it is here - so it makes sense to avoid if that bad, a few said the same. I avoid SM I find rubbish.

Anyway I’m a bit weirded out by how invested some get in others posting I had no idea people got so pent up about it.

Cornettoninja · 20/08/2021 12:10

Fair enough, but why bring nationality into it? It’s not an unusual phenomenon for people to take offence at people telling th they’re basically not welcome and should stick with ‘their own’.

General advice to step away from something upsetting you isn’t apparent when people specifically advise you to keep to your own nationality.

Porcupineintherough · 20/08/2021 12:29

@MarshaBradyo it was a shit thing to say with a real "go back where you came from" overtones.

FourTeaFallOut · 20/08/2021 12:40

I believe Marsha's point was if you don't like the fact that people in the UK have opinions on international current affairs then you might be on the wrong site.

Wakeupin2022 · 20/08/2021 12:47

[quote Porcupineintherough]@MarshaBradyo it was a shit thing to say with a real "go back where you came from" overtones.[/quote]
Erm as far as I am aware Marsha is an immigrant to the UK. From Austrailia........

People in the UK were being accused (by Brits who have emigrated to NZ) of only having the attitude that Zero Covid may not be possible now because NZ is a former British Colonly.

Yes you read write - it was people originally form the UK who had emigrated that were saying that.

Perhaps Marsha should have stepped away and probably would have been better not making some of the comments, but this thread has been quite horrible on both sides at times. And completely unnecessary allegations have been thrown about.

Bryonyshcmyony · 20/08/2021 14:53

@FourTeaFallOut

I believe Marsha's point was if you don't like the fact that people in the UK have opinions on international current affairs then you might be on the wrong site.
yes, I believe it was in response to a few posts expressing amazement that people in the UK are daring to discuss another country.
L1ttleSeahorse · 20/08/2021 16:37

RedToothBrush Ive really appreciated reading some of your very well thought out posts. Thankyou.

Therehavetobeadjustments · 20/08/2021 16:44

I always really enjoy MarshaBradyo's posts tbf.

Yes I believe she's an Australian living in the UK so probably in a good place to comment on issues on the other side of the world.

L1ttleSeahorse · 20/08/2021 16:47

Me too!

amicissimma · 20/08/2021 17:01

It does seem rather odd to come onto a UK website and complain that there are UK-centric posts.

ilovecuddlydogs1000 · 20/08/2021 17:07

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OliveTree75 · 20/08/2021 17:09

A friend I went to uni with lives in NZ. She has just posted a video on FB of her wandering round the supermarket and the shelves were empty. She said there is a lot of panic buying again.

Cornettoninja · 20/08/2021 17:31

@Therehavetobeadjustments

I always really enjoy MarshaBradyo's posts tbf.

Yes I believe she's an Australian living in the UK so probably in a good place to comment on issues on the other side of the world.

True, but if you are taking into consideration posters passports to add weight to their opinion then I’m pretty sure the same should hold true for people actually living in NZ right now.

Tbh I’m not sure how reasonable it is to expect posters to be aware of other posters backgrounds when giving their posts context (not that it would necessarily negate any offence). There’s no expectation here that posters should be aware of each other’s past posts to have an idea of ‘who they are’. If what you’re communicating doesn’t come across well as a stand alone post then maybe the issue is with how you’ve communicated what you’re trying to say 🤷‍♀️

Cornettoninja · 20/08/2021 17:32

@ilovecuddlydogs1000

NZ and Aus are testbeds for NWO. It is as plain as day.
Dude…..
Bryonyshcmyony · 20/08/2021 18:24

What's NWO?

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