A Christchurch family has had to self-isolate after their eldest daughter arrived back in New Zealand from the United States past the travel cut-off time.
Taylah Eder attends the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma on a rowing scholarship. Some cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the area and her university last week told students all classes would be moved to online because of the outbreak.
Because of the unfolding situation, Taylah’s mum Louise told 1 NEWS they wanted to get her home. She says they were planning on self-isolating anyway before the Government's announcement.
Taylah arrived in Christchurch at 9.25am this morning, just over eight hours after the travel cut off time. Almost all travellers arriving into the country after that window of time now have to self-isolate for 14 days.
Louise says the decision to self-isolate was about doing the right thing.
“We’ve basically gone through the ringer of what to decide to do," she says.
“I literally sort of predicted this was going to happen. It’s just been the most horrendous time trying to decide the right thing to do."
Taylah’s two sisters and mum Louise will join her in self-isolation, while her dad will stay elsewhere because of work requirements.
“We’ve decided to stay together as a family although my husband is a farmer and he’s currently harvesting grapes and it’s the busiest time of the year,” says Louise.
The family are trying to follow guidelines about keeping distances and using separate items in the home. Taylah won’t be sharing a bathroom with anyone else in the house.
Visitors found breaching coronavirus quarantine measures will be deported, the PM warned today.
Louise says she has re-arranged the entire home to make the temporary new way of life work.
“I was up ‘til half past one this morning doing it all,” says Louise.
“We’ve totally rearranged the house for this.”
The family will remain in isolation for the mandatory time period, and want to cooperate with the Government. But after seeing the way the US has handled self-isolation, Taylah says New Zealand could tighten up its process.
“They could make it a lot harsher. In America there’s lockdowns where they’ll have people come visit your house and make sure you’re home," says Taylah.
"Whereas here its sort of just a verbal agreement so basically are you going to self-isolate for 14 days and you just say yes."
The new self-isolation rules were announced on Saturday and kicked in at 1am this morning.
Many people coming home will find themselves in the same situation.
E-Gates were also closed at 3am today, meaning passports need to be manually checked by a customs officer.
To date, there are eight confirmed coronavirus cases in New Zealand, with no new cases announced today.
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