New Zealand First MP and Cabinet Minister Tracey Martin is about to end her period of self-isolation. Photo / Mark Mitchell
New Zealand First MP and Cabinet Minister Tracey Martin is about to end her period of self-isolation. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Working from home, episodes of the West Wing and an absence of panic-buying have characterised Cabinet Minister Tracey Martin's two weeks of self-isolation.
Martin was the first New Zealand MP to go into self-isolation after she came into contact with two coronavirus-infected people, including Australian Minister Peter Dutton, while in Washington DC.
She has been symptom-free and confined to her home, and is looking forward to roaming freely from Sunday.
"I had quite a heavy schedule next week travelling around the country, but we have cancelled all those just as a precaution."
She had not stocked up on toilet paper, nor did she understand why people panic-bought such things. "That's the weirdest thing."
Leaving the property to walk her dogs was something she considered, which was allowed under the rules of self-isolation, as long as social-distancing was maintained.
"But I thought that the last thing anybody needed was a photo of me walking down the street with my dogs, passing somebody else walking down the street with a dog."
She dismissed the idea of taking her dogs out while wearing a disguise.
"I'm not quite sure whether that would play that well for me either - under a purple wig and John Lennon glasses. The house has never been cleaner, that's all I can say."
Nor had she worked on any new recipes or daily yoga.
"I don't exercise when I'm not at home, let alone when I'm trapped at home. I have been catching up on the West Wing. I'm up to season seven, so by the time I get out of here, I'll have got over that particular fetish."
Martin has been phoning in to Cabinet meetings along with Minister Nanaia Mahuta, who is also in self-isolation, and has had Skype calls with the NZ First caucus and organisations related to her portfolios, such as Seniors Services.
"My whole team worked from home yesterday and we did a like a 12-person Skype call to see how that would work, preparing for the just-in-case."
Martin shares her home with her husband and daughter, but said they were maintaining social distancing.
"I haven't gone off my property. My husband and my daughter are leaving the house, but they are working in a vineyard just together on their own, so their interaction with others is very minimal."
With eight new cases announced today, bringing the number of confirmed cases to 28, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has asked New Zealanders to put a self-isolation plan together - but urged them not to panic.
