4.2122 1398 Final operational plan for the self isolation pilot.pdf

BRIEFING
Final operational plan for the self-isolation pilot
Date:
22 October 2021
Priority:
High
Security
In Confidence
Tracking
2122-1398
classification:
number:

Action sought

Action sought
Deadline
Hon Chris Hipkins
Approve the final operational plan
26 October 2021
Minister for COVID-19
for the self-isolation pilot.
Response
Agree that if Ministers make any
changes to the length of the
standard MIQ stay, then the length
of the self-isolation pilot wil  reduce
accordingly.

Contact for telephone discussion (if required)
Name
Position
Telephone
1st contact
General Manager, Self-Isolation
s 9(2)(a), s 9(2)
Christina Sophocleous-Jones  Pilot
(g)(ii)

The following departments/agencies have been consulted
Ministry of Health

Minister’s office to complete:
Approved
Declined

Noted
Needs change

Seen
Overtaken by Events

See Minister’s Notes
Withdrawn


Comments

BRIEFING

Final operational plan for the self-isolation pilot
Date:
22 October 2021
Priority:
High
Security
In Confidence
Tracking
2122-1398
classification:
number:
Purpose
To seek your approval of the final operational plan for the self-isolation pilot, and your agreement
that if Ministers make any changes to the length of the standard MIQ stay, then the length of the
self-isolation pilot wil  reduce accordingly.
Recommended action
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) recommends that you:
a  Approve the final operational plan for the self-isolation pilot.
Yes / No
b  Agree that if Ministers make any changes to the length of the standard MIQ stay (currently 14
days), then the length of the self-isolation pilot wil  reduce accordingly.
Agree / Disagree
c  Note that the full design of the self-isolation pilot wil  not be scalable beyond the pilot due to the
constraints of the public health advice which informed Cabinet’s decisions.
Noted
d  Agree to proactively release this briefing with any withholdings consistent with the Official
Information Act 1982.
Agree / Disagree

Hon Chris Hipkins

Minister for COVID-19 Response
Christina Sophocleous-Jones

General Manager, Self-Isolation Pilot
Managed Isolation and Quarantine, MBIE
..... / ...... / ......
22 / 10 / 2021

2122-1398
In Confidence
1

Backg

round
1.
On 27 September, Cabinet agreed to the design parameters of the self-isolation pilot [CAB-
21-MIN-0386 refers]. Cabinet also agreed that final operational plans for the pilot be
approved by you.
2.
On 8 October, you took further decisions on operational design matters [MBIE-BR-2122-
1284 refers]. On 14 October, you agreed to the COVID-19 Public Health Response (Isolation
and Quarantine) Amendment Order (No 3) 2021 to give legal effect to the self-isolation pilot
[MBIE-BR-2122-1338 refers]. Your office has been provided with an update on the results of
the bal ot, which took place on 12 October.
3.
This briefing seeks your approval of the final operational plan for the self-isolation pilot and
your agreement that if Ministers make any changes to the length of the standard MIQ stay,
then the length of the self-isolation pilot will reduce accordingly..
Key dates
4.
The key dates for the pilot are as follows:

Successfully bal oted applicants advised: 15 October

Final date for applicant submission of materials required for confirmation of their
inclusion in the pilot: 22 October

Participant arrival window into New Zealand: 30 October – 8 December

Final participants leave self-isolation: 22 December.
Pre-departure from New Zealand
Final approval of participants
5.
In order to obtain final approval to participate in the self-isolation pilot, successfully bal oted
applicants are required to submit a self-isolation plan. This plan requires applicants to
provide a range information, declarations, and consents related to:
a)
The place of self-isolation (including whether, if temporary rental accommodation is to
be used, the owner has agreed to that place being used for self-isolation)
b)
Emergency health and contact information (eg NHI number, GP details)
c)
Communications, compliance (with self-isolation and health-related requirements), and
monitoring
d)
Access to food and medications.
6.
The Ministry of Health (MOH) wil  verify applicants’ vaccination status, to confirm that they
have been fully vaccinated in New Zealand with Cominarty (Pfizer BioTNech COVID-19
vaccine).
MIAS vouchers held by participants
7.
You decided that applicants who currently hold Managed Isolation Al ocation System (MIAS)
vouchers are eligible to participate in the self-isolation pilot, so long as their vouchers can be
cancelled and released in time for other people to obtain via the MIAS lobby [MBIE-BR-2122-
1338 refers]. Any such vouchers wil  be cancelled on applicants’ confirmed acceptance into
the self-isolation pilot.

2122-1398
In Confidence
2

Participant withdrawal from pilot

8.
If a participant withdraws from the pilot prior to their departure, MBIE will select the next
eligible EOI for that travel period, provided that there is sufficient time for that next applicant
to meet the pilot’s requirements prior to travel.
9.
s 9(2)(f)(iv)
10.
s 9(2)(g)(i)

Every participant
who is contacted must be provided with a reasonable window of time to provide their
information/evidence so it can take up to 5 business days to confirm their participation or find
that they cannot proceed.
11.  We wil  provide your office with an update next week on the number of withdrawals and
ineligible participants. We may seek your approval that MIQ is able to set a cut-off date for
continuing to contact new participants.
s 9(2)(g)(i)

Offline allocation of MIAS vouchers to participants
12.  Participants will be manually allocated a MIAS voucher offline. The voucher wil  indicate that
the person is a self-isolation pilot participant. An MIQ room wil  not be allocated to them.
Arrival in New Zealand
Requirements under the COVID-19 Public Health Response (Air Border) Order 2020
13.  Under the COVID-19 Public Health Response (Air Border) Order 2020 (the Air Border
Order), on arrival in New Zealand participants will be required to:
a)
Provide evidence of a confirmed al ocation
b)
Provide evidence of a negative pre-departure test
c)
Undergo medical examination and testing for COVID-19.
14.  Day 0 testing wil  be carried out at the airport and wil  consist of a nasopharyngeal swab at
the airport. Due to space constraints at Christchurch Airport, officials have confirmed the
inclusion of a Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) at point of arrival for Auckland participants only. This
forms part of the Point of Arrival trial to determine whether RATs can be operationalised at
the airports. Participants wil  be provided with saliva testing kit and given a demonstration of
how to use this.
15.  If a participant is symptomatic on arrival, or has otherwise breached the conditions of the
pilot (eg travelled through a very high risk country), a Medical Officer of Health (MOoH) may
require that a person enter MIQ, rather than their place of self-isolation. In this event, the
MIQ room would be derived from operational contingency.
Airport processes
16.  Participants will disembark an aircraft and move through Auckland and Christchurch Airports
as a self-isolation pilot cohort, but wil  proceed under standard arrival passages and
processes for red flights.

2122-1398
In Confidence
3

17.  While participants are at the airport, and in transit to their place of self-isolation, they must
  maintain physical distancing and wear personal protective equipment (PPE), as required
under the Air Border Order.
Transportation to participants’ places of self-isolation
18.  On exit landside, participants wil  be directed to transportation (provided by the same
company that services MIQ) that wil  transit them to their places of self-isolation.
19.  In transit, participants will be provided with a pack that contains information about the self-
isolation pilot (including requirements and key contacts), a saliva testing kit, signage to
display at their place of self-isolation, and PPE.
In self-isolation
Dwelling requirements
20.  Participants’ places of self-isolation must be within a 50km radius of Auckland1 or
Christchurch Airports (by road).
21.  Dwel ing requirements for the pilot are based on guidelines for Community Supported
Isolation and Quarantine (CommunitySIQ). Pertinently:
a)
Participants are not permitted to self-isolate with household members, but may self-
isolate with other participants in the same travelling party
b)
There must be no shared ventilation between the dwelling and adjoining dwel ings
c)
There must be no immediate entry and egress to the property shared with adjoining
property
d)
There must be access to sanitary measures (including provision for safely disposing
household waste)
e)
There must be access to reliable means of communication (including cellular coverage
for monitoring).
22.  Under the COVID-19 Public Health Response (Isolation and Quarantine) Amendment Order
(No 3) 2021, participants are required to display a notice, provided by MBIE, at entry points
to their place of self-isolation. This notice wil  specify that it is an offence to enter that place,
unless otherwise permitted.
Exercise and smoking
23.  Under the COVID-19 Public Health Response (Isolation and Quarantine) Amendment Order
(No 3) 2021, participants are able to exercise (while wearing a face covering) and smoke in
an outside area that is a) within the boundary of the place of self-isolation, and b) where that
outside area is used only by people permitted to enter the participants’ place of self-isolation
(eg for contactless delivery).
Testing, health and welfare checks
24.  The testing of pilot participants largely mirrors the mixed-modality testing regime being
piloted across MIQ by the end of October.


1 And also within Auckland Council boundaries

2122-1398
In Confidence
4

25.  The testing regime is as follows:

Day
Test mode
Location
0
Rapid antigen and nasopharyngeal
Airport
(RAT for Auckland participants only)
3
Saliva
Self-isolation (self-administered)
6
Saliva
Self-isolation (self-administered)
9
Saliva
Self-isolation (self-administered)
12
Nasopharyngeal
Community testing centre

26.  Couriers wil  collect samples (contactless) from the property and provide to the agreed upon
laboratory. Results wil  be provided to the participant via text message.
27.  MBIE wil  arrange transportation for participants to community testing centres for the day 12
test.
28.  In the event a participant tests positive for COVID-19 in self-isolation, they wil  be treated
akin to community cases. That is, participants will be required to enter MIQ under the
direction of a MOoH exercising their powers under s70 of the Health Act 1956.
29.  A Clinical Admission Assessment (the Assessment) which is usually undertaken at MIQ
facilities by a Health Practitioner, is a required step of the Pilot. A Health Practitioner would
contact the participant with a call to undertake the Assessment. Whilst not yet confirmed,
work is underway for this call to be made through the contact centre provider Healthline. This
option would alleviate workforce and time implications for operationalising the Assessment at
the airport.
30.  Identification, through this assessment, of participants who may be unable to isolate safely
due to any pre-existing health conditions wil  be managed on a case-by-case basis.
31.  If participants report any COVID-19 symptoms in their daily health check, they will be able to
be referred for an additional test. If this additional test returns a negative result, the
participant will continue to be monitored through the daily health checks. If a positive test
result is returned, the participant wil  be transferred to a MIQ facility and no longer be
included in the Pilot.
32.  If the participant reports non-COVID-19 health related concerns, they will be advised to
contact their General Practitioner to provide appropriate support.
33.  If the participant is not responding to the health check systems, this issue wil  be escalated to
MBIE for non-compliance implications.
Compliance monitoring
34.  Cabinet agreed that participants be required to comply with electronic monitoring using a
smartphone app, and/or comply with regular and random phone-based checks [CAB-21-MIN-
0386 refers].
35.  Our recommended monitoring option at the time at which the Cabinet paper was prepared
was electronic monitoring using a smartphone app. That technology is unable to be procured
in time for the pilot’s commencement, due to security concerns which were unable to be
resolved in the time available.

2122-1398
In Confidence
5

36.  Accordingly, we are close to finalising the procurement of a technology that provides for
  video calling with GPS. This method wil  enable participant identity and GPS location to be
verified at the time at which a call is made to the participants’ phone. However, this
technology does not monitor participants’ in real-time (eg if they leave their place of self-
isolation).
37.  If for any reason this video calling with GPS technology cannot be procured in time for the
commencement of the trial, we wil  conduct regular and random phone-based checks until
such date as we are able to implement video calling. This method does not provide any
certainty that a participant is where they say they are, so we may also conduct contactless
self-isolation ‘spot checks’ if phone-based checks are being used.
38.  Procurement and contracting is underway with ZYTE and First Security, as providers of
respective options, and is expected to be finalised by 20 October.
39.  If it is determined that a participant may not be at their place of self-isolation, the New
Zealand Police wil  be notified.
Breach of requirements
40.  The COVID-19 Public Health Response (Isolation and Quarantine) Amendment Order (No 3)
2021 requires that a person who breaches self-isolation requirements (including the
requirement to be tested for COVID-19) enter MIQ, and be liable for MIQ fees.
Emergencies
41.  Emergency services wil  be notified of participants’ places of self-isolation, to ensure that
infection prevention and control protocols are adhered to in the event they need to enter the
premises.
42.  Under the COVID-19 Public Health Response (Isolation and Quarantine) Amendment Order
(No 3) 2021, if a participant experiences an unanticipated, time-critical need for service (eg
plumbing) that is necessary to ensure the participant can remain in pilot, the CE of MBIE can
authorise a person to enter, subject to conditions (eg vaccination requirements).
Exiting self-isolation
Exit requirements
43.  Under the COVID-19 Public Health Response (Isolation and Quarantine) Amendment Order
(No 3) 2021, in order to leave self-isolation, the Chief Executive of MBIE must be satisfied
that the participant meets low risk indicators2, based on the advice of a suitably qualified
health practitioner.
44.  Work is underway to implement this exit screening with Healthline who wil  review the
participants details and confirm any details over the phone and send confirmation to MBIE to
release the Pilot participant.
45.  Once MBIE is in receipt of the results of a participant’s exit screen, it wil  contact the
participant to advise them that they are permitted to leave self-isolation.


2Under the COVID-19 Public Health Response (Isolation and Quarantine) Order 2020, ‘low-risk indicators’
means that a person has undergone medical examination and testing required to assess whether they have
COVID-19, with a negative result.

2122-1398
In Confidence
6

Potential changes to the standard MIQ stay

Implications for the self-isolation pilot
46.  As you are aware, officials are currently preparing advice for Ministers on potentially reducing
the period of managed isolation for border arrivals from 14 to 7 days, followed by 3 days in
self-isolation, effective 14 November.  This proposal is designed to ensure that the MIQ
restrictions placed on people remain proportionate and justifiable, given what we now know
about COVID-19 transmission and infectious periods, particularly around the Delta variant.
47.  The aim of the self-isolation pilot is to replicate Managed Isolation settings and protocols as
much as possible in the community. We therefore seek your agreement that if Ministers
make any changes to the length of the standard MIQ stay (currently 14 days), then the length
of the self-isolation pilot wil  alter accordingly.
48.  Based on the current proposal, this would mean that the self-isolation pilot would reduce to 7
days.  This wil  be followed by a 3 day stay at home period, during which time participants wil
be subject to the same conditions and requirements proposed for other border arrivals
leaving MIQ.  These conditions are stil  being developed, however they are expected to be
less extensive and restrictive than those of the self-isolation pilot.
49.  The agreement with a participant’s employer to pay $1,000 for the pilot includes a provision
that this charge will be reduced on a pro rata basis if the participant does not receive pilot
services for 14 days.
Treatment of participants who began the pilot prior to 14 November
50.  It is proposed that on 14 November, all border arrivals who have been in Managed Isolation
for 7 days or longer will be eligible to exit Managed Isolation if they have met the low-risk
indicators for release. We propose to apply the same treatment to self-isolation pilot
participants who have been in self-isolation for 7 days or longer as at that point.
Risks and contingencies
Participants unable to return before 8 December
51.  A participant who arrives in New Zealand after 8 December will be unable to participate in
the self-isolation pilot, because the pilot ceases on 22 December.  Al  manual/offline MIAS
allocations for participants after 8 December wil  be cancelled.
52.  If a participant is unable to return by 8 December due to verifiable reasons beyond their
control (eg they test positive for COVID-19, or due to flight cancellations) their MIAS voucher
wil  be reinstated and they will be permitted to enter MIQ under operational contingency. For
any other or unverifiable reason, participants wil  not be permitted to enter MIQ, and must
obtain a valid MIAS voucher through usual processes.  Participants that use their (invalid)
MIAS voucher to board a plane and enter MIQ they will be liable for an offence.
MIQ capacity
53.  In the event MIQ capacity does not allow for participants to enter MIQ (eg in the event of an
Alert Level to 3 or higher in Christchurch, as agreed by Cabinet [CAB-21-MIN-0386 refers]),
we wil  provide you with further advice.

2122-1398
In Confidence
7

Scalability of the pilot

54.  As previously advised, the full design of the self-isolation pilot will not be scalable beyond the
pilot due to the constraints of the public health advice which informed Cabinet’s decisions.
Cabinet noted that given the inherent risk associated with running a pilot of this nature, the
design parameters of the pilot may be more restrictive and resource intensive than those
used for a wider scale roll-out of self-isolation. The pilot is also limited in its replicability.
Business participants wil  not necessarily be representative of the general public.
55.  We expect that the pilot wil  test the operational readiness of the system for self-isolation,
and inform where processes wil  need to change for a wider scale roll-out. This includes
processes at the border, services required for people in self-isolation including things like
transit to their accommodation, and delivery of testing services.
Next steps
56.  Cabinet noted that MBIE will report the final list of participants to the Reconnecting New
Zealanders Ministerial Group (RNZMG) when final approval processes are complete, for its
information [CAB-21-MIN-0386 refers]. We wil  provide your office with this list as soon as it
is available.
57.  Cabinet was advised that an evaluation and reporting approach would be developed by
MBIE in consultation with MOH, for your approval. We wil  provide this evaluation plan to you
in early November.
58.  We are contributing to the advice in development on potentially moving to a shorter stay MIQ
model. We wil  ensure that any changes to the length of the standard MIQ stay are also
applied to the duration of the self-isolation pilot.

2122-1398
In Confidence
8