Frustration for New Zealand returnees as Covid quarantine waiting list hits 30,000

Demand for MIQ spaces is vastly outstripping supply, with spots snapped up in just two hours

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Overseas New Zealanders trying to return home are facing a queue tens of thousands of people long, as the country reopens bookings to cross the border.

The country's borders have been strictly controlled since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic - only citizens, permanent residents and a handful of essential workers can enter, and all of them must make a booking to spend two weeks in government-controlled quarantine (MIQ).