Covid 19 coronavirus: only 23 bills paid for isolation fees administered in the first seven weeks

By Gill Bonnett, RNZ

Nearly 90 percent of all managed isolation fee waiver requests have been approved.

A rate plan was introduced on August 11 that ranged from $ 3,100 for one person to $ 5,000 for a family of four.

Hotel guests only paid 23 bills, totaling $ 72,000, in the first seven weeks.

Payments are due 90 days after the invoice date, so none are currently due.

The charges apply to New Zealanders returning from overseas vacation and critical foreign workers. They also apply to New Zealanders coming from abroad for less than three months.

A spokesperson for Managed Isolation and Quarantine said it had approved 474 fee waivers of the 538 it had decided so far.

Most of the requests (496) were made for special circumstances, for example attending a funeral or visiting a close relative who is seriously ill.

The remainder (42) was made on the basis of undue financial difficulties.