The National Party is backing plans to allow some low risk Covid-19 cases to isolate at home, but spokesperson Chris Bishop is worried about how much planning has been done.
Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said on Wednesday low-risk cases may be able to isolate at home within the next week.
Bishop told Morning Report it's a sensible move, but only time will tell if the Government has planned how to manage it safely.
"My real concern is that we haven't done the planning for that [home isolation]," he said.
"The DHBs were told a few weeks ago to start planning for home-based isolation and quarantine, my sense is that some will be well advanced, others will not be. Of course, if we'd started planning for this a few months ago, we'd be in better position with that."
Bishop said it was clear with the current rate of growth New Zealand will quickly run out of space in MIQ.
"Obviously, with case numbers continuing to rise with an R rate of 1.3, which means continuing to spread, particularly in Auckland, we're going to have to look at alternatives and the only feasible alternative is home-based isolation."
He said the Government should be considering regular public health check-ins, how the police might be involved, and how to best use technology for at-home isolation.
