Covid 19 coronavirus: 48 returnees have paid managed isolation charges since August

Recent returnees have reimbursed more than $ 150,000 after the government made the solitary confinement charges mandatory on August 11.

Forty-eight 48 individuals or families have paid, out of a total of 826 invoices issued through October 4. 609 additional exemptions had been approved for the same date, according to data published by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

Returnees have 90 days after receiving their invoice to pay. Neither is late until at least next month.

The charge for a single person in a room is $ 3,100. Additional adults or children sharing the room pay $ 950 and $ 475 respectively, including GST.

However, not all those billed are required to pay, an isolation and managed quarantine (MIQ) spokesman told the Herald.

Individuals may be exempt from payment or may request an exemption. Fee waiver requests are considered on a case-by-case basis.

Undue financial hardship and other special circumstances are considered, including:

• A New Zealander who was placed in controlled isolation because he left New Zealand to accompany a person back to New Zealand who is disabled or unable to travel alone;

• Someone who needs to travel to or from New Zealand for medical treatment;

• Other compassionate grounds, including when a person has traveled to visit a seriously ill or dying close relative or to attend a funeral or tangihanga (whether in New Zealand or abroad).

The costs cover less than half the average total cost of MIQ stays, Housing Minister Megan Woods said in August.

“This charging system makes an important contribution to our public health response to Covid-19.”

A total of $ 154,628.58 had been paid since the collection system was introduced, as of October 4, MBIE data showed.

This is provisional data from Statistics New Zealand showing that 24,236 people arrived in New Zealand between August 11 and October 13.

Most people arrived with New Zealand passports – 15,381 compared to 8,855 for non-New Zealand passports.

Some 57,663 people had gone through MIQ between March 26 and October 4. The number had risen to 60,354 yesterday.

The MIQ spokesperson wanted to thank those who had paid before and said there were no outstanding invoices.

Key dates in New Zealand’s Covid-19 timeline:

• On March 21, the alert level system is announced as Covid-19 cases start to increase and New Zealand moves to alert level 2.

• On March 23, New Zealand moves to alert level 3 after the number of cases exceeds 100 and begins preparing for a lockdown of at least a month. Two previously confirmed cases are found to be unrelated to travel abroad and are treated as community transmission.

• On March 25, New Zealand goes to Alert Level 4 and the entire nation enters self-isolation at 11:59 pm.

• On April 27, New Zealand returns to alert level 3.

• On May 23, the alert level drops again, this time to level 2.

• On June 8, New Zealand goes to alert level 1 at 11:59 pm; the confinement is over.

• On August 12, four members of a South Auckland family tested positive after more than 100 days without community transmission of Covid-19. The Auckland region re-enters Alert Level 3 and the rest of New Zealand moves to Level 2.

• On August 30, Auckland drops to alert level 2.5.

• On September 21, all of New Zealand, except Auckland, falls back to alert level 1 at 11:59 pm.

• On September 23, Auckland goes to Alert Level 2 at 11:59 pm.

• On October 8, Auckland joins the rest of the country at Alert Level 1.