The vast majority of MIQ hotels will be closed by the end of June.
All but four of the 32 MIQ facilities will be converted back to ordinary hotels by the end of June. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi
The government says now the border is starting reopen the demand for managed isolation is significantly reduced.
There are 32 MIQ facilities around the country, and all but four will be converted back to ordinary hotels.
Rydges Auckland will be the first to leave the MIQ network; its contract finishes at the end of April.
Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins told Morning Report most of the contracts have a 90 day notice period, so hotels could be sitting empty.
"The main constraints of winding back our MIQ facilities now are the contracts that we have with hotels - obviously the hotels didn't want to enter into a contract that could suddenly end overnight."
Hipkins said some hotels may want to end their contracts earlier, but there would be commercial discussions with the individual hotels.
"In some cases the hotel owners have indicated they're going to use the opportunity to do some renovations and to, you know, get them back to a nice, as-new state before they reopen them to the public."
"The hotels are likely to have a period of being empty" - Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins
Hipkins said four MIQ facilities would remain because some people would still be required to go into managed isolation.
"For those who are not vaccinated and who are not New Zealand citizens but are eligible to come into the country, there's still a requirement for them to go into MIQ."
He said MIQ was also still being used to meet some international obligations such as for refugees coming into the country, people who come into New Zealand and then travel onwards to Antarctica.
Hipkins said where there was significant pressure in the community and people were not able to isolate at home, the government still needed the capacity to alleviate that.
He said a small number were being kept on while the government worked through what might be needed in the future.
Hipkins said this could include using hotels or purpose-built quarantine facilities.
"I expect to receive formal advice on this later in 2022," he said.
He said the vast majority of MIQ staff had already gone back to their roles in the health, defence and police workforces or would be doing so in the next few days.
"Police are already back on the beat ... we did that the week before last actually in acknowledgement of the significant pressure that they were under."
Rydges Auckland's contract finishes at the end of April and it will be the first to leave the network. Photo: RNZ / Simon Rogers
"MIQ workers have been at the front line of keeping Covid-19 out of New Zealand and they have made considerable personal sacrifices to make sure the wider community is safe.
"MBIE is working with the remainder of its workforce and with employers, to help staff as we work through this period. With many sectors experiencing workforce shortages we are confident there are opportunities for people to be redeployed into work elsewhere."
MIQ was set up in April 2020. The system undoubtedly saved lives but more recently has been under attack for preventing thousands of New Zealanders coming home.