Andrew Dickens Afternoons

It was halfway through last week, and I was having a conversation with a mate about whether MIQ for in-bound citizens was still relevant.  Both of us were noting that with over 2000 active cases in the country, compared to a handful in MIQ, you were more likely to catch Covid in New Zealand rather than from a recent returnee.  So he asked me, can you give me one good reason why we should retain MIQ? There was only one reason I could think of, and that was the possibility of a new variant rising and us needing to prolong our defences as we ready ourselves for another viral invasion.  So imagine my surprise when over the weekend that exact scenario played out.  Omicron was discovered.  Nations immediately prevented flights from Southern Africa.  Australia started the process of re-introducing hotel based MIQ.   The world went on war footing.  And here our slowness to dismantle quarantine measures suddenly looked like an inspired decision, rather than a decision born of fear and a love of being a hermit nation.