Later in the week the Government announced the MIQ lottery would soon stop.
From January 17, fully vaccinated Kiwis in Aussie can come back without the costly and difficult-to-get isolation facility spots.
From February 13, fully vaccinated Kiwis can travel from other countries, and from the end of April all other fully vaccinated visitors can come into New Zealand without needing MIQ.
Travellers will still need to isolate at home for seven days and will require a negative test, proof of vaccination and declaration they haven't been in high-risk countries and regular testing after arrival.
Whether that is a positive or negative thing remains to be seen.
Earlier this month Rotorua MP Todd McClay said Covid-19 was a "disaster waiting to happen" in the Lakes District Health Board area.
The comments came after it was revealed there are only four fully staffed intensive care beds in Rotorua. The DHB had 16 ventilators and 14 were resourced.
They are valid concerns. We previously reported an estimated 100 people would die and there would be 14,000 Covid-19 cases in the Lakes DHB area next year if an 80 per cent vaccination rate is achieved.
In the Bay of Plenty DHB area, those figures were 230 deaths and almost 31,000 Covid-19 cases at an 80 per cent vaccination rate.
At 90 per cent, Lakes cases were expected to drop to 190 a week, with 12 hospitalisations and one death, in the Bay the number of deaths would nearly halve and cases would fall to 20,000.
I am of two minds about the new system. I am glad people stuck overseas will find it easier to return and be reunited with family members. It will put to bed stories of people denied MIQ exemptions to see sick relatives.
However, I hope the Government has thought about how to ensure people do self-isolate at home. If it is an honesty-based system, people may break the rules.
And the data shows breaking the rules, letting Covid-19 loose in the community, could have deadly consequences.
