The Delta variant is a highly contagious Sars-CoV-2 virus strain. Video / Paul Slater
Nearly 13,000 people were quarantined in Rotorua's three MIQ facilities over a 16-month period after arriving in New Zealand during the Covid-19 pandemic.
And a recent returnee says the experience of MIQ taught her valuable life lessons after travelling for the funeral of her children's father last year.
Between August2020 and December 2021, 12,904 people had stayed at one of Rotorua's three MIQ facilities: the Ibis, Sudima, or Rydges hotels.
The data was provided by the Ministry for Business, Innovation & Employment following an Official Information Act request.
It revealed the Sudima had the most returnees with 5878, followed by the Ibis with 3705 and the Rydges with 3321.
The hotels weren't all converted into MIQ facilities at the same time but the timeframes all ended on December 1, 2021.
The earliest arrival date of visitors at the Sudima was August 4, 2020. At the Ibis, it was four days later on August 8 and at the Rydges, August 6.
Christchurch woman Libby Carmichael Venning arrived at Rydges Rotorua on January 2 after returning from Europe for the funeral of her children's father.
She wasn't sure what to expect when she arrived but said her experience was "a huge learning curve".
"I moved to New Zealand four or five years ago, being only 24 hours away from my kids. Then the pandemic came, then I spent two years quite depressed not wanting to be in New Zealand," Venning said.
"Then I went to Europe and had to deal with the funeral and the children and saw their lives, one is in England and one in Cyprus, and learned that they're okay and that my life is here in New Zealand. I didn't know that before I went away.
"Having 10 days to sit around and reflect on the important stuff in life really helped me."
Venning said her room was quite large and overlooked the Arawa Park Racecourse — and after a bit of shuffling she was able to watch the races while she worked.
She said the staff were "amazing" and that she "couldn't thank them enough" before offering words of encouragement for other people nervous about MIQ.
Christchurch woman Libby Carmichael Venning stayed at Rydges Rotorua in 2022. Photo / Supplied
"Try not to overthink it. Be grateful you got a spot but never be afraid to ask for information from forums or from the hotel," she said.
"I didn't want to eat the snacks and then I found out you can have fruit so I did that.
"Treat it with a very open mind and that it's part of your transition coming back from wherever and give yourself time to reflect on life."
There were 33 MIQ facilities in New Zealand when the MIQ website was last updated on December 2.
Aside from the three in Rotorua, 18 are in Auckland, seven in Christchurch, three in Hamilton, and two in Wellington.
The three facilities in Rotorua were established around June 2020, during the transition period where management of the facilities was being transferred from the Ministry of Health to MBIE, the latter starting on July 13, 2020.
A police officer keeps watch at the Ibis Hotel in June 2021. Photo / Andrew Warner
The data also counted each visit to MIQ singularly, so people who had stayed at a facility, left the country and came back could be counted twice or more. Due to limitations in its database, MBIE was unable to identify returnees who had two or more visits.
In September last year, a fourth MIQ facility in Rotorua was announced as officially off the cards and an additional facility would be established in Christchurch.
It followed strong opposition from Rotorua people, including mayor Steve Chadwick, iwi, MPs, Rotorua Chamber of Commerce and the Lakes District Health Board.
