WELLINGTON: New Zealand’s prime minister says the government will start a pilot program of home-isolation for overseas travelers, ahead of what she expects to be increasing vaccination levels.
Currently New Zealanders have to quarantine in hotels for two weeks when they return home from abroad.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday a pilot program that will allow New Zealanders to quarantine at home will include 150 business travelers who arrive between Oct. 30 and Dec. 8. The program will involve monitoring and testing.
“The only reason that we are running this self-isolation pilot now is in preparation for a highly vaccinated population,” Ardern said.
“The intention is that in the first quarter of 2022 when more New Zealanders are vaccinated, it will be safer to run self-isolation at home,” she added.
Of the eligible population in New Zealand aged 12 and older, 43 percent had been fully vaccinated, Ardern said.
In Auckland, the nation’s most populous city which has been locked down since Aug. 17 after the highly-contagious delta variant leaked from hotel quarantine, 82 percent of the eligible population had at least a single dose of the double-shot Pfizer vaccine, she said.
New Zealand has taken an unusual zero-tolerance approach to the coronavirus and has been trying to completely eliminate the Delta variant.
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New Zealand to allow home isolation to travelers
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New Zealand to allow home isolation to travelers
- Currently New Zealanders have to quarantine in hotels for two weeks when they return home from abroad
- New Zealand has taken an unusual zero-tolerance approach to the coronavirus
Swiss bar owner faces prosecutors for second hearing after deadly New Year’s fire
The French couple, Jacques and Jessica Moretti, are suspected of crimes including negligent homicide
They have both voiced grief over the fire, which mostly killed teenagers
GENEVA: The owner of a Swiss bar that caught fire on New Year’s Day, killing 40 people, appeared before prosecutors on Tuesday for a second set of hearings in the criminal investigation, according to a lawyer present.
The French couple, Jacques and Jessica Moretti, are suspected of crimes including negligent homicide.
Jacques Moretti, who is currently in police custody, is before prosecutors on Tuesday in Sion to examine his version of events, Romain Jordan, a lawyer for families of the victims, told Reuters.
Moretti’s wife, who remains free, is due to be heard on Wednesday.
They have both voiced grief over the fire, which mostly killed teenagers, and said they would cooperate with the probe.
During initial hearings, Jacques Moretti said that a service door at the back of the “Le Constellation” bar was locked shut during the blaze, according to excerpts published by Swiss media.
He said he forced it open from the outside and found several people lying behind it.
Asked about this testimony, his lawyer Nicola Meier said it was a tragedy but denied it represented a locked emergency exit.
Local authorities for the ski town of Crans-Montana also face scrutiny after missing safety checks. The mayor’s office said it withdrew a request to be a party to the case “out of respect for the victims.”
They have both voiced grief over the fire, which mostly killed teenagers
GENEVA: The owner of a Swiss bar that caught fire on New Year’s Day, killing 40 people, appeared before prosecutors on Tuesday for a second set of hearings in the criminal investigation, according to a lawyer present.
The French couple, Jacques and Jessica Moretti, are suspected of crimes including negligent homicide.
Jacques Moretti, who is currently in police custody, is before prosecutors on Tuesday in Sion to examine his version of events, Romain Jordan, a lawyer for families of the victims, told Reuters.
Moretti’s wife, who remains free, is due to be heard on Wednesday.
They have both voiced grief over the fire, which mostly killed teenagers, and said they would cooperate with the probe.
During initial hearings, Jacques Moretti said that a service door at the back of the “Le Constellation” bar was locked shut during the blaze, according to excerpts published by Swiss media.
He said he forced it open from the outside and found several people lying behind it.
Asked about this testimony, his lawyer Nicola Meier said it was a tragedy but denied it represented a locked emergency exit.
Local authorities for the ski town of Crans-Montana also face scrutiny after missing safety checks. The mayor’s office said it withdrew a request to be a party to the case “out of respect for the victims.”
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