Shakirah Hunter

New Zealand has been set apart from the rest of the world as it went into a tight lockdown and drew a strict plan in its response to the Covid19 pandemic. As we enter the third year of the Pandemic Prime Minister Jacinda announced that New Zealand will now ease into a red zone. There will still be strict rules, but this means that because the majority of New Zealand have been vaccinated there won’t be the fear of going into a total strict lockdown as was the case previously.

The new rules allow New Zealanders to enter the country via Australia -without strict quarantine rules. Previously they were allowed to enter- however the waiting period was quite long due to lack of immediate availability of quarantine beds. They will now have to isolate at home as opposed to hotel quarantine.

“Tourism is still not allowed, and the country is being opened in a graded manner with the focus on New Zealand citizens throughout the world at first,” says Dr Ja’afar ibn Uwais on the line to Radio Islam from New Zealand.  The Prime Minister was positive regarding the strict restrictions that New Zealand took towards the Pandemic, and the consensus is that people were pleased with this with local polls showing that majority of the country agreed with Prime Minister Jacinda. Although there has been a deep frustration with the strict quarantine system – generally she has had a broad support.

How has this impacted the Muslim Community?

The swift action early on meant that the Masaajid had to be shut down, and this was one negative , however inside New Zealand life quickly returned to normal. By Ramadhan 2021 Muslims were allowed to gather in their Masaajid for Ramadhan and Taraweeh.