About 100 more emergency MIQ rooms a fortnight will be made available, and the criteria has been widened. Photo / Michael Craig
About 100 more emergency MIQ rooms a fortnight will be made available, and the criteria has been widened. Photo / Michael Craig
The door for emergency spots in MIQ facilities is being widened to include terminally ill Kiwis or those wanting to return to New Zealand to see a sick relative.
An extra 100 MIQ rooms a fortnight will also be made available for travellers who need to travel urgently and can't do so by using the MIQ booking system.
The changes were announced this morning by joint head of MIQ Megan Main.
"The changes we're making today will mean that more people who need to get home urgently will be able to," she said in a statement.
"These decisions are not easy ones to make. There are a lot of people who are in really distressing situations overseas. We need to balance each individual application with our critical work to ensure the safety of all New Zealanders."
The new rules mean that, for the first time, applications for emergency MIQ rooms will be considered for NZ citizens or residents who are coming home:
• to see a close relative who has a terminal illness or a disease leaving them with six months or less to live, or • after visiting a close relative overseas who has a terminal illness or a disease leaving them with six months or less to live
Kiwis overseas who are similarly ill can apply for an emergency MIQ room if they are coming home:
• to visit a close relative in New Zealand, or • to reside in New Zealand, or • after visiting a close relative who lives overseas
Citizens or residents of Pacific countries will also be able to apply if they need "time-critical medical treatment in New Zealand under an official medical treatment scheme that is unavailable in their own country".
About 1600 people have been granted an emergency MIQ spot so far. Photo / Dean Purcell
Someone in these new categories is not guaranteed an emergency spot, as it will depend on available spaces.
The new categories will be second-tier priority. Top priority will still be given to those where urgent travel is needed to protect a child, or for Kiwis in danger of "serious risk to health" - though this latter category has been expanded to include serious risk to safety.
The priority two-category for critical health workers has also been expanded to include disability workers.
"Over the last few months we've received applications from people who were terminally ill and wanting to return home to see loved ones, from people who were in countries where they were unsafe and from citizens from Pacific island countries who need to receive urgent medical care in New Zealand," Main said.
"So we have created categories for these situations so that we can more easily accommodate future applications of this nature."
MIQ capacity is about 12,000 people per month, including 700 rooms for emergency spots.
Since October 5, 83,386 vouchers have been provided through the booking system, and 1682 emergency spots from 3088 applications have been approved.
To be eligible for an emergency allocation, the travel must be time-critical, the applicant must be legally entitled to enter New Zealand, and they must be willing to travel within seven days of making their application.
Successful applicants still have to spend 14 days in MIQ.
