COMMENT:
When news broke 232 people had been taken into managed isolation in two Rotorua hotels, there was an outcry.
We were told they had been bused into the city under cover of darkness, arriving sometime between 10pm and midnight and put up at the Ibis and Sudima.
Rotorua MP Todd McClay was furious. He believed the people of Rotorua should have been notified before it happened.
Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick was notified of the decision on Friday and informed on Saturday that the Defence Force was bringing people in that night.
Others were blindsided by the news, with councillor Fisher Wang saying in a Facebook post the council hadn't been notified until after buses had brought people.
The problem is not that travellers are being quarantined here. It was a seeming lack of communication and the perception they had been bused in at night as if there was something to hide.
But those that needed to know were told and flights arrive at all hours of the day.
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Advertise with NZME.Put yourselves in the shoes of the travellers who are New Zealand residents just trying to get home.
Rotorua is renowned for its hospitality and the way it treats its visitors, why should this be any different?
Now is the time to show that we care and offer our support. Managed isolation is costing the Government an average of $3295 per person. That's taxpayers' money being pumped back into local hotels, keeping them alive and keeping locals employed.
The only reason this is any different than those in isolation in Auckland is that it is in our own backyard.
A total of 4272 people are in managed isolation nationwide and more flights are expected.
As more Kiwis return home they need a place to be held in managed isolation and as Auckland hotels fill up, other areas need to do their part.
Yes, some of these people will contract Covid-19 and it is a scary thought the region, which has been Covid-19 free since May, could have cases again.
But the alternative is self-managed isolation which I doubt would be as effective.
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Advertise with NZME.I would rather have recent travellers and possible Covid-19 sufferers locked in Rotorua hotels than wandering the streets.
