Renee West (right) with her mother Lesley Haughey, who has terminal cancer. Photo / Supplied
Renee West (right) with her mother Lesley Haughey, who has terminal cancer. Photo / Supplied
A New Zealand woman who rushed home from Australia fears she might never see her cancer-stricken dying mum again after being denied an exception to quarantine regulations.
Under new Covid-19 rules, anyone returning from overseas is required to be put in 14 days of quarantine or managed self-isolation in a Government-approved facility in an effort to keep out coronavirus.
Aviation security officers keep an eye on returning New Zealanders who are being put in managed isolation. Photo / File
Renee West and her two sons, aged 9 and 5, flew to Auckland from Melbourne on Saturday night and are being kept in managed self-isolation at M Social Hotel in Auckland.
Her application for an exception was not approved.
"My 59-year-old mother has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and has been given two to three weeks left to live by her doctor," West said.
Renee West and her two sons are being kept in managed self-isolation at MSocial Hotel at Auckland's waterfront. Photo / File
"We have had to go into the two-week quarantine and I am scared we won't get to her in time to say our goodbyes. It just seems so heartless."
West and her husband are New Zealanders and moved to Melbourne about nine years ago.
"I haven't seen mum for about three years. I am struggling with the fact I may not get to see my mother who is my best friend, and not sure how I am meant to deal with this," she said.
The family were meant to come over for a two-week holiday in April, but the coronavirus outbreak made that impossible.
Her mother, Lesley Haughey, had breast cancer and a mastectomy 11 years ago.
"Sadly, in the last couple of weeks, my sister and father, who live in Stratford, Taranaki, with my mum, noticed she wasn't herself and she was struggling to use the left side of her body, so my sister called an ambulance which took her to Wanganui hospital for tests as they thought she had a mild stroke and had a brain bleed," West said.
"It turned out she had lung and brain cancer and it had spread to all her vital organs ... now she is completely riddled with it and treatment isn't an option."
West rushed home after her mum said her one wish was to have her and her grandsons home to say her final goodbyes.
"It's the worst news in the worst situation. My biggest fear is not being able to make it back and that she passes before our 14 day quarantine is over," she said.
"Mum didn't even tell us she was unwell at the start as she doesn't want anyone to worry about her."
A Ministry of Health spokeswoman sympathised with West's situation and acknowledged that the current border requirements can be very distressing for people returning to the country wanting to visit a loved one.
The requirement that all travellers returning to New Zealand isolate for 14 days was to protect all Kiwis from the coronavirus, she said.
People staying in quarantine facilities could apply for an exemption under "extremely limited circumstances".
But to get an exemption, the person must meet one of these categories:
• For the minor - the exemption being for a parent or caregiver to join them in managed isolation
• An individual with physical or other needs that cannot be appropriately accommodated at the managed facilities - this needs to be supported with clinical evidence
• A worker critical to the Covid-19 response required to undertake tasks during the 14-days isolation
If the person meets one of these criteria, they must also demonstrate a self-isolation transport plan, she said.
"These requests are carefully considered on a case-by-case basis and any decision to grant an exemption must also ensure it will not present a risk to public health and undermine the Covid-19 response.
"Applications that don't meet this criteria should expect to be declined."
