Non-New Zealand citizens trying to get back to Aotearoa from very high-risk Covid-19 countries are basically out of runway under the government's new rules.
It's created a category for countries with very high numbers of Covid-19 cases among returnees.
So far India, Pakistan, PNG and Brazil are on that list. In a bid to slash the number of positive Covid-19 cases arriving here from 11.59pm next Wednesday, only NZ citizens, their partners and children, and parents of children who are New Zealand citizens will be allowed to fly to home directly from countries that are in the new category.
Anyone else, including permanent residents, will have to spend 14 days in another lower risk country before they can head here.
So with the routes home narrowing, Lisa Owen asks Otago University law professor Andrew Geddis whether the new rules are effectively a ban for that group of people.
