Common roll member O’love Jacobsen has expressed her concerns at Cabinets decision to allow home quarantine and increase the number of passengers arriving from New Zealand.
O’love Jacobsen who is currently in Auckland told BCN news that the decision to allow for home quarantine is unprofessional and most irresponsible. She says that there are still COVID 19 cases in New Zealand and the decisions by Cabinet to allow for home quarantine “raises the risk as we are least prepared in our resources and infrastructure to save ourselves”.
Another veteran politician Terry Coe shares these concerns saying that the Cabinet should bring these discussions to the Fono Ekepule and allow the elected members of the Assembly to discuss.
Coe does not agree with the decision to increase in the number of passengers allowed into Niue. Cabinet last week revised the travel advisory increasing the number from fifteen back thirty.
O’love Jacobsen says that she is very concerned about the health department’s capacity to conduct COVID testing.
BCN news understands that the officials from the Health and Police department have already conducted the checks to three properties for the passengers who applied for home quarantine. The home quarantine option is only available for passengers on the next flight on the 17th of November, however this may extend to the flights in December.
Last week Premier Tagelagi said that the Cabinet’s decision to increase the number of passengers is to respond to the demand from families to return to Niue for the festive season. The first flight in December is already booked out according to Air NZ.