David Seymour is calling for an end to the "Hunger Games" style of New Zealand's current MIQ booking system.
The ACT leader told Breakfast if the Government will allow Covid-positive cases in New Zealand to isolate at home, those returning with negative tests should be allowed to isolate at home too.
His comments come after the Government on Thursday announced a new plan that will enable Covid-19 patients to recover at home when New Zealand’s overall vaccination rates improve.
The initiative will see the end of Covid-positive patients being sent to MIQ for a fortnight.
Instead, their suitability will be assessed for recovery at home or local accommodation, such as a motel, with patients supported and monitored by local health officials through phone calls and medical equipment like oxygen monitors.
"If we're going to let people that we know have Covid because they had a positive test isolate at home, it's time to let Kiwis return from overseas with a negative test isolate at home, skip MIQ and end the Hunger Games of everyone trying to get an MIQ spot," Seymour said.
Thursday's announcement came as 71 new community cases were reported, bringing the total cases in this Delta outbreak to 1790.
Northland, Auckland and parts of Waikato are at Alert Level 3, with the rest of New Zealand at Alert Level 2.
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