4. Question No. 4—COVID-19 ResponseSARAH PALLETT (Labour—Ilam) to the Minister for COVID-19 ResponseQuestion No. 4—COVID-19 Response4. SARAH PALLETT (Labour—Ilam) to the Minister for COVID-19 Response: What recent announcements has he made regarding the managed isolation and quarantine system?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Minister for COVID-19 Response): Today I announced that from 14 November managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) stays for border arrivals will be halved to seven days followed by a short period of self-isolation at home and release once somebody has had a negative day 9 test. When the MIQ system was introduced we didn't have a vaccine so every arrival posed a higher level of risk. With most people now fully vaccinated when they arrive in New Zealand the risk profile of international arrivals has changed so it's time to start changing our MIQ settings. Arrivals will be tested at day zero or day one day three and day six or seven. A rapid antigen test and the health checks will be carried out on day seven before a person leaves MIQ and people will get a PCR test on day nine when they are at home and they'll have to stay at home until the result comes back. This announcement strikes the right balance managing the current risk from overseas arrivals while taking a significant step in the Government's ongoing strategy to carefully reconnect New Zealand with the rest of the world. Sarah Pallett: What impact will these changes have on MIQ capacity? Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: The evolution of MIQ will initially free up more than 1500 rooms per month. These spaces will enable us to do two things. They'll allow rooms to continue to support the Auckland outbreak and some additional Managed Isolation Allocation System (MIAS) rooms will be available for release. Modelling for the number of rooms needed for those high-risk community cases isn't yet conclusive to be able to say for certain exactly how many rooms will be made available through MIAS vouchers for international travellers but there certainly will be some. It does however indicate that the direction that we're heading in will see fewer restrictions at the border for people coming into New Zealand who are lower risk such as those who are fully vaccinated and have up-to-date negative COVID-19 test results.Sarah Pallett: How does today's announcement fit into the Government's wider reconnecting New Zealand strategy? Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: Shortened stays in MIQ were part of our international reconnecting plan that we announced just shortly prior to the current Delta outbreak in Auckland. The second stage of our plan will see New Zealanders move towards having more vaccinated people able to self-isolate at home instead of in MIQ. That option will be made available to increasing numbers of fully vaccinated travellers in the first quarter of 2022. Our priority at this stage is to carefully transition to the new traffic light system first and bed that in before adding the additional risk of international arrivals immediately entering the community. When the COVID-19 Protection Framework is bedded in 90 percent of eligible New Zealanders will be fully vaccinated so we'll have a higher level of confidence than we do right now of allowing international arrivals to go straight into the community.