Stuff Digital Edition

PM warns Kiwis to come home as bubble bursts

Bernadette Basagre Hannah Martin hannah.martin@stuff.co.nz

Potentially thousands of Kiwis are in a race to get back into the country after the quarantine-free travel bubble with Australia burst.

Yesterday afternoon, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins announced quarantine-free travel (QFT) from all Australian states and territories would be suspended from 11.59pm, for at least eight weeks.

Slightly more than 20,000 New Zealanders have travelled to Australia – which declared a national emergency yesterday – and not returned since the bubble opened on April 19.

The prime minister warns that those who do not want to be in Australia longterm should return now.

What happens now?

For the next seven days there will be managed green flights available from all Australian states and territories except New South Wales.

People travelling from outside NSW will require proof of a negative predeparture test to get on a flight, but will not be required to go into managed isolation during that seven-day window, to 11.59pm on July 30.

Those who have been in NSW will have to go into a managed isolation (MIQ) facility for 14 days.

Travellers from Victoria must adhere to the state’s current lockdown measures, self-isolate upon arrival into New Zealand and get a Covid-19 test on day three.

After the seven-day travel window ends, all travellers must secure a spot in MIQ to be able to return. Officials have warned this may not be immediate, and travellers will need to await further information about flight availability.

The suspension will be reviewed in September.

In the 95 days since the bubble opened, 312,000 people have travelled in either direction, and multiple state-specific pauses have been put in place.

What’s happening with flights?

The Government is working closely with airlines to ensure there are flights available over the seven-day period, and extend it for a few days if necessary.

Kiwis stranded in NSW will be able to return home on managed flights with Air New Zealand.

All returnees on managed flights are required to go into managed isolation for at least 14 days.

Air New Zealand has opened bookings for managed flights, but not everyone in NSW will be able to return home immediately.

Air New Zealand’s five managed flights from Sydney to Auckland between July 28 and August 7 sold out shortly after going on sale yesterday morning.

Those who can safely stay in NSW are encouraged to do so, so those with the most urgent need to return can do so first.

A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Education said they did not have a record of how many school students were currently in Australia.

Schools are due back for term 3 on Monday.

The number of affected pupils is only likely to become apparent then.

What’s happening with MIQ?

The number of seats on managed flights is limited to the number of MIQ spaces available.

The country’s MIQ system is already under pressure. Of the 4000 rooms available across 32 facilities, 3784 were occupied as of midnight on July 22.

The Government will be making 580 MIQ rooms available between July 28 and August 8 for those returning from Australia.

Why now?

Ardern and Hipkins said the move to suspend travel was not one taken lightly, but was the right decision to keep New Zealanders safe.

The bubble was already paused with New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia.

Australia is in the grips of multiple outbreaks that have forced three states into lockdown.

Yesterday, New South Wales recorded 136 new cases of Covid-19 – the highest daily number since the Delta variant emerged on July 16.

Yesterday’s measures were appropriate given the high level of transmissibility of the Delta variant and the multiple community clusters, Ardern and Hipkins said.

The Government was confident in the decision amid the ‘‘worsening’’ situation in New South Wales and ‘‘seepage’’ across state borders.

‘‘Now is the time for a suspension to ensure New Zealanders aren’t put at undue risk from Covid-19, and to ensure we retain our hard-won gains.’’

‘‘Our team of 5 million has worked hard to put us in a strong position both health-wise and economically. We will not risk that,’’ they said yesterday.

Ardern and Hipkins said they acknowledged the ‘‘frustration and inconvenience’’ that came with interruptions to trans-Tasman travel, but said the suspension would give Australia time to manage its outbreaks while ensuring New Zealanders are safe.

Three weeks after losing their second child in less than a year, a Taranaki couple want to help other families who are grieving a baby’s death.

Amity-Raine Kahukura Mita was tiny, weighing just 369 grams, but she was a fighter who surprised doctors by living for 18 hours after her premature birth on July 1.

Her brief life was a gift to her parents, Tristan Mita and Korina Skipper, and their older children, Naia, 7, and Lathan, 4.

‘‘We still had hope, right to her last breath really,’’ Korina said. ‘We called her Tinkerbell as she was severely growth restricted. She was very tiny, but so stroppy and sassy.’’

Due to a very rare maternal condition, chronic histiocytic intervillositis, diagnosed when her mother was 19 weeks pregnant, Amity-Raine had been expected to die weeks before her birth, but she hung on for another two months.

The condition was being treated, but it turned out that Amity-Raine had a second underlying issue, massive perivillous fibrin deposition, which was discovered too late to save her life.

Just 10 months earlier, in September 2020, the Ha¯wera couple’s son Artem, who was affected by the same condition, was stillborn. This time around, the couple knew what was happening, so when Amity-Raine was born, they felt hope as well as sadness.

During those 18 hours in the Wellington neo-natal ward, they were the happiest parents there, Skipper said.

After Amity-Raine died, she was placed in a Cuddle Cot, a chilled baby bed.

This allowed the couple to spend time with Amity-Raine without having her embalmed.

Usually, Cuddle Cots are only available in hospitals, but with the help of Emily Davidson and Vicki Cullen from Sands Taranaki, a pregnancy, baby and infant loss support charity, the couple were loaned Wellington Hospital’s $6000 machine.

They were able to take the Cuddle Cot home with their daughter for a few days.

This was much better than using multiple ice packs, which they had to do when they took Artem home.

‘‘After three days, he was ready to go,’’ Korina said.

The extra time gave them space to make Amity-Raine’s funeral very special.

‘‘With Artem, we cremated him. We just played him some music and laid him down, and left.

‘‘Our little girl got really spoilt, with kids that were there blowing bubbles.

‘‘She had music, she had a poem read for her by Emily, and I spoke as well.

‘‘The experience of each was completely different because we were able to think about it, whereas with Artem it was so sudden.’’

The couple, their two older children and wider wha¯nau were able to spend five days with their little girl.

‘‘For two nights it was just us with her and our two older kids,’’ Korina said.

‘‘It was really good to have just our family.

‘‘Then, later, everyone else came.’’ The Cuddle Cot, which fitted into the baby’s own bed, helped normalise their time with Amity Raine, Mita said.

‘‘You could pick her up and cuddle her, then put her back down. You weren’t afraid to touch her.’’

During those days, Davidson helped them create memories of their wee girl through photographs and video, hand and footprints and making resin casts of her tiny feet and hands.

The couple have now started a Givealittle page fundraiser in memory of Artem and Amity to raise money to buy a CuddleCot for Sands Taranaki.

If more than $6000 is received, the extra money will go to support Sands and towards buying cuddle cots for other regions.

Davidson, who has supported the family through both babies’ deaths, said the CuddleCot’s value lies in the time it gives grieving families with their children.

‘‘We know how finite that time is, and we try to slow everything down.

‘‘They can have the best experience in the worst circumstances.’’

National News

en-nz

2021-07-24T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-07-24T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://fairfaxmedia.pressreader.com/article/281659668066845

Stuff Limited