Commodore Darryn Webb News Today

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Nine people are dead and authorities have ‘grave fears’ for others, while more than 4500 people still can’t be contacted, says Prime Minister Chris Hipkins

A woman who was charged with failing to comply with a Covid-19 order after she attempted to escape from a central Auckland MIQ facility two nights in a row

David Correa-Hunt, 92, is stuck in the Covid-ravaged UK as his daughter frantically tries to find him a MIQ slot.

Photo: RNZ /Dom Thomas One year ago today, all arrivals at New Zealand airports began to be taken to managed isolation hotels for a 14-day stay. Since then, 130,600 people have passed through the 32 border hotels. Joint head Megan Main said staff working at the facilities had made "considerable personal sacrifices" to keep those people safe. More than 850 people have tested positive for Covid-19 during their stay - including about 95 current cases. Main said MIQ had been a process of continuous...

The facilities were an unprecedented response to an unprecedented threat: coronavirus. The need for large-scale accommodation quickly became apparent in late March 2020 when the border was closed and Kiwis flooded home.  "Fifteen hotels were quickly contracted in Auckland," says Megan Main, one of the joint heads of MIQ, reflecting on the past years COVID-19 response.  "By April 9, when the Prime Minister announced managed isolation was compulsory, we had 18 hotels to house returning Kiwis. W...

Photo: RNZ /Dom Thomas But it will be another month until the worker representatives are properly trained up and have actual legal powers to make the workplaces safer. A unionist says she had been "terrified" early on for the low-paid - mostly Māori or Pasifika, often older cleaners, and other quarantine workers - when PPE was lacking. But that now, at last, government officials were meeting their legal obligations. "The time it took to actually get through to them was far too long," said Unit...

Tom Lee/Stuff Brigadier Jim Bliss, head of Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ), pictured in Hamilton shortly after he was appointed in mid-December. The people of Hamilton – and New Zealand at large – don’t need to live in fear of any further mass breakouts from their local Covid quarantine hotels, reckons Brigadier Jim Bliss. Bliss – who took over from Air Commodore Darryn Webb earlier this month as the head of Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ) – was in Hamilton on Sunday to...

US shocked to hear Australians stranded abroad this Christmas 15 Dec, 2020 08:13 PM 5 minutes to read Passengers arriving at Sydney Airports strictly controlled borders. Photo / File news.com.au Australias handling of the coronavirus pandemic has been, for the most part, a success. In comparison to other Western nations — the United Kingdom and the United States chief among them — the countrys conduct and swift uptake of restrictions has been lauded by leaders, experts and media around the ...

Finance Minister Grant Robertson says Cabinet has agreed to expand the small business lending scheme. "The scheme opened in May, and to date close to 100,000 businesses have received the loan, with a total lending of $1.6 billion," he says. "The average value of each loan is modest, at around $17,000, with smaller businesses being the target. It is much needed working capital to help businesses who have been in a tight spot. A small number of borrowers have already repaid their loan." He says s...