3 Apr 2020

Coronavirus: National Party wants tighter border quarantine rules

From Morning Report, 7:39 am on 3 April 2020

There's no sign the Government will tighten quarantine controls for those arriving at the border, in response to calls from the opposition to quarantine and test everyone.

The police have admitted they have not been able to carry out the expected level of checking on people sent home to self isolate; if they arrive in New Zealand with no Covid-19 symptoms and have a plan for self-isolation.

Those with symptoms or no plan are put into quarantine, or closely supervised self-isolation in a hotel.

At present there are about 4,000 recent arrivals self-isolating, but opposition MPs say there's no way of knowing if they're sticking to the rules.

The Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says there are different high risk groups, all being managed but there is no need to change requirements at the border, for now.

National leader Simon Bridges, who chairs the Epidemic Response Committee, told our political editor Jane Patterson the police have the necessary resources, they just need to prioritise.