Travel restrictions for very high risk countries - Review
Philip made this Official Information request to Chris Hipkins
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From: Philip
Dear Chris Hipkins,
The countries designated as very high risk ( Brazil, India, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea), How often are these reviewed ?
The Covid19 website mentions " The Government will review this decision regularly " , but there are no details on the frequency or when it's next due.
Can I get details on when they were last reviewed or when it's due to be reviewed ?
Yours faithfully,
Philip
From: C Hipkins (MIN)
Chris Hipkins
Kia ora
Thank you for taking the time to write to Hon Chris Hipkins, Minister for
COVID-19 Response, Minister of Education, Minister for the Public Sector
and Leader of the House. We are receiving a significant amount of
correspondence at the moment and, although your email will be carefully
considered and noted, it is not possible to respond to each individual
email.
For the latest updates on COVID-19, we encourage you to regularly check
the dedicated [1]COVID-19 and [2]Ministry of Health websites regularly.
They will be updated as soon as new information is available.
If your query is in regards to the COVID-19 vaccine, there are substantive
resources about our COVID-19 vaccine planning and our COVID-19 vaccine
strategy on the dedicated COVID-19 website
here: [3]https://covid19.govt.nz/health-and-wellb...
or the Ministry of Health website
here: [4]https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/dise....
Please remember to take care, and be kind. We have beaten COVID-19 before,
and we can do it again.
Ngā mihi,
Office of Hon Chris Hipkins
Minister for COVID-19 Response | Minister of Education | Minister for the
Public Sector | Leader of the House | MP for Remutaka
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References
Visible links
1. https://covid19.govt.nz/
2. https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/dise...
3. https://covid19.govt.nz/health-and-wellb...
4. https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/dise...
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From: Lydia Verschaffelt
Kia ora Philip
Thank you for your email received 22 June 2021 in which you submitted an Official Information Act 1982 request to the Hon Chris Hipkins, Minister for COVID-19 Response. You have requested:
“…The countries designated as very high risk ( Brazil, India, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea), How often are these reviewed ?
The Covid19 website mentions " The Government will review this decision regularly " , but there are no details on the frequency or when it's next due.
Can I get details on when they were last reviewed or when it's due to be reviewed ?"
Pursuant to section 15 (1) of the Act we will endeavour to respond to your request as soon as possible, and no later than 20 July 2021 being 20 working days after the day your request was received. If we are unable to respond to your request within this timeframe, we will notify you of an extension of that timeframe.
If you have any queries related to this request, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Ngâ mihi
Lydia Verschaffelt | Health Private Secretary
Office of Hon Chris Hipkins
Minister for COVID-19 Response | Minister of Education | Minister for the Public Service | Leader of the House
Parliament Buildings, Private Bag 18041, Wellington 6160, New Zealand
-----Original Message-----
From: Philip [mailto:[FOI #15859 email]]
Sent: Tuesday, 22 June 2021 10:38 AM
To: C Hipkins (MIN) <[Chris Hipkins request email]>
Subject: Official Information request - Travel restrictions for very high risk countries - Review - Ref: OIA0215
Dear Chris Hipkins,
The countries designated as very high risk ( Brazil, India, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea), How often are these reviewed ?
The Covid19 website mentions " The Government will review this decision regularly " , but there are no details on the frequency or when it's next due.
Can I get details on when they were last reviewed or when it's due to be reviewed ?
Yours faithfully,
Philip
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From: Philip
Dear Lydia Verschaffelt,
Any update on this ? It's been more than 20 days since the request ?
Yours sincerely,
Philip
From: Lydia Verschaffelt
Kia ora Philip
Thank you for your further email, and please accept my apologies for the delay in responding to you.
On 22 June 2021, you submitted an Official Information Act 1982 request to the Minister for COVID-19 Response, Hon Chris Hipkins, for:
“…The countries designated as very high risk ( Brazil, India, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea), How often are these reviewed ?
The Covid19 website mentions " The Government will review this decision regularly " , but there are no details on the frequency or when it's next due.
Can I get details on when they were last reviewed or when it's due to be reviewed ?"
I can advise that the Ministry of Health has reviewed the countries that are currently designated as ‘high-risk’ and these reviews are currently with Ministers for consideration. This is the first official review the Ministry has undertaken since the category was created and Cabinet has recently agreed upon the framework for review. The Ministry will now review high-risk countries on a monthly cycle.
More information about New Zealand’s approach to high-risk countries will soon be made publicly available on the Unite Against COVID-19 website at: https://covid19.govt.nz/alert-levels-and...
Under section 28(3) of the Act you have the right to ask the Ombudsman to review any decisions made under this request. The Ombudsman may be contacted by email at: [email address] or by calling 0800 802 602.
Thank you again for writing.
Ngā mihi
Lydia Verschaffelt | Health Private Secretary
Office of Hon Chris Hipkins
Minister for COVID-19 Response | Minister of Education | Minister for the Public Service | Leader of the House
Parliament Buildings, Private Bag 18041, Wellington 6160, New Zealand
-----Original Message-----
From: Philip [mailto:[FOI #15859 email]]
Sent: Wednesday, 21 July 2021 8:18 AM
To: Lydia Verschaffelt <[email address]>
Subject: RE: Official Information request - Travel restrictions for very high risk countries - Review - Ref: OIA0215
Dear Lydia Verschaffelt,
Any update on this ? It's been more than 20 days since the request ?
Yours sincerely,
Philip
-----Original Message-----
Kia ora Philip
Thank you for your email received 22 June 2021 in which you submitted an Official Information Act 1982 request to the Hon Chris Hipkins, Minister for COVID-19 Response. You have requested:
“…The countries designated as very high risk ( Brazil, India, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea), How often are these reviewed ?
The Covid19 website mentions " The Government will review this decision regularly " , but there are no details on the frequency or when it's next due.
Can I get details on when they were last reviewed or when it's due to be reviewed ?"
Pursuant to section 15 (1) of the Act we will endeavour to respond to your request as soon as possible, and no later than 20 July 2021 being 20 working days after the day your request was received. If we are unable to respond to your request within this timeframe, we will notify you of an extension of that timeframe.
If you have any queries related to this request, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Ngâ mihi
Lydia Verschaffelt | Health Private Secretary Office of Hon Chris Hipkins Minister for COVID-19 Response | Minister of Education | Minister for the Public Service | Leader of the House Parliament Buildings, Private Bag 18041, Wellington 6160, New Zealand
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #15859 email]
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers
If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
________________________________
hide quoted sections
From: Philip
Dear Chris Hipkins,
This has clearly been a disappointment that the request was not completed within the timeframe advised nor any notification about the delay until a response was requested again.
On another note, I am not sure if Ministry and responsible people realise these restrictions affect real people's lives. it has been close to 3 months since the restrictions has been put in place and affecting many people who call New Zealand their home.
It was mentioned in media today, the travel bubble with Australia is been reviewed daily and sometimes twice a day, but by the looks of it, there has been little done about the countries categorised as High Risk. I am still finding hard to believe that there was no framework created to review high-risk countries category on regular cycle than until someone submits OIA enquiry ( Possibly).
Yours faithfully,
Philip
From: C Hipkins (MIN)
Chris Hipkins
Kia ora
Thank you for taking the time to write to Hon Chris Hipkins, Minister for
COVID-19 Response, Minister of Education, Minister for the Public Sector
and Leader of the House. We are receiving a significant amount of
correspondence at the moment and, although your email will be carefully
considered and noted, it is not possible to respond to each individual
email.
For the latest updates on COVID-19, we encourage you to regularly check
the dedicated [1]COVID-19 and [2]Ministry of Health websites regularly.
They will be updated as soon as new information is available.
If your query is in regards to the COVID-19 vaccine, there are substantive
resources about our COVID-19 vaccine planning and our COVID-19 vaccine
strategy on the dedicated COVID-19 website
here: [3]https://covid19.govt.nz/health-and-wellb...
or the Ministry of Health website
here: [4]https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/dise....
Please remember to take care, and be kind. We have beaten COVID-19 before,
and we can do it again.
Ngā mihi,
Office of Hon Chris Hipkins
Minister for COVID-19 Response | Minister of Education | Minister for the
Public Sector | Leader of the House | MP for Remutaka
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
References
Visible links
1. https://covid19.govt.nz/
2. https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/dise...
3. https://covid19.govt.nz/health-and-wellb...
4. https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/dise...
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