< Back
Date
I’d decided to have a short holiday in New Zealand and wanted to do a hiking and cycling holiday. There were two dates available, but the April tour wasn’t confirmed while the March tour was, so I decided to go in March. At the time of booking the holiday Covid19 was being discussed, but was mainly confined to China. It wasn’t thought to be a problem when considering booking a holiday.
I was due to fly out on Friday 13 March 2020. By that week, 14 days self isolation was required for people coming in from high risk areas, such as Italy, Iran and China, where the disease was spreading rapidly. At that point there were a number of cases in Sydney (where I live), but very few in the general community. New Zealand also had very few cases. I did consider the situation before flying to New Zealand, and decided that New Zealand was low risk. I had no symptoms, had not been in contact with anyone with the disease and felt I wouldn’t be infecting anyone in New Zealand, so decided I’d go. At the time I flew out there was mixed messaging from the Australian Government. While they were bringing in bans on public gatherings of over 500 people, the Prime Minister was saying he was still going to the footy on the weekend (through in the end he did not go).
I was only away for 10days, but things changed rapidly.
On the Saturday, NZ announced that if you arrived on Monday or after, you would need to self isolate for 14 days.
At this point I felt lucky that I had arrived before this came into effect and I would be able to enjoy my holiday.
I was due to fly out on Friday 13 March 2020. By that week, 14 days self isolation was required for people coming in from high risk areas, such as Italy, Iran and China, where the disease was spreading rapidly. At that point there were a number of cases in Sydney (where I live), but very few in the general community. New Zealand also had very few cases. I did consider the situation before flying to New Zealand, and decided that New Zealand was low risk. I had no symptoms, had not been in contact with anyone with the disease and felt I wouldn’t be infecting anyone in New Zealand, so decided I’d go. At the time I flew out there was mixed messaging from the Australian Government. While they were bringing in bans on public gatherings of over 500 people, the Prime Minister was saying he was still going to the footy on the weekend (through in the end he did not go).
I was only away for 10days, but things changed rapidly.
On the Saturday, NZ announced that if you arrived on Monday or after, you would need to self isolate for 14 days.
At this point I felt lucky that I had arrived before this came into effect and I would be able to enjoy my holiday.