Currently Online 
Some of the more shady practices to keep Covid out of NZ are coming to light now
https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/covid-19-quarantine-lottery-breached-rights-new-zealand-court-rules-1.5877954
High Court Justice Jillian Mallon ruled that forcing people to stay in quarantine hotels for two weeks initially, and later for one week, was reasonable given the circumstances of the pandemic. But she found that operating a lottery-style system for the beds was unreasonable, and did not take into account how long people had been waiting abroad, or whether they had a compelling need to return home.
“New Zealanders’ right to enter their country could be infringed in some instances in a manner that was not demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society,” the judge concluded.
The flaws in the system were highlighted earlier this year by the case of Charlotte Bellis, a pregnant New Zealand journalist who was temporarily stranded in Afghanistan due to New Zealand's strict border policies. The case quickly became an embarrassment to the New Zealand government, which backed down and offered Bellis a pathway home, which she accepted.
While Omicron leads to less hospitalizations:
https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/omicron-may-be-less-likely-to-cause-hospitalizations-but-severe-outcomes-were-comparable-to-delta-study-1.5876101
A study comparing the clinical outcomes of patients infected with either the Omicron or Delta variant of COVID-19 has found that those who were hospitalized with Omicron required a similar amount of intensive care and medical intervention as those hospitalized with Delta.
What researchers found was that Omicron did come with a significantly lower likelihood of hospitalization: only 3 per cent of those infected with Omicron required hospitalization, compared to nearly 14 per cent of those infected with Delta, regardless of vaccination level.
However, if patients did require hospitalization, the difference in care level needed was much closer.
There was a comparable need for supplemental oxygen and intensive care seen with hospitalized Omicron patients and hospitalized Delta patients. Around 68 per cent of patients hospitalized with Omicron required supplemental oxygen compared to 73 per cent of hospitalized Delta patients. When it came to intensive care, 17.6 per cent of hospitalized Omicron patients had to be taken to the ICU, compared to 25.4 per cent of hospitalized Delta patients.
The good news is, about a factor 5 difference in hospitalizations between Omicron and Delta.
