Covid 19 Delta outbreak: Sir Ian Taylor wins approval for enterprise journey trial utilizing non-public MIQ

Companies

11.10.2021 16:004 minutes to read

Sir Ian Taylor is pleased that the government has given him the go-ahead for Process # 151, Off The Bench, which is designed to monitor international business travel without occupying MIQ rooms. Photo / Jason Oxenham

A delighted Sir Ian Taylor has received government approval to test a private international travel self-isolation system designed to free up seats in the MIQ for returning Kiwis.

Animation Research founder yesterday received approval from the Department of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) to conduct a privately funded study Taylor calls # 151 Off The Bench.

He wants to prove that he can fly from Dunedin to Auckland, on to Los Angeles and San Francisco and, using the latest technology available, safely return to New Zealand without taking up a place in a hopelessly overloaded MIQ system.

The approval is a win for Taylor, who outlined his plans in a series of articles published in the Herald, saying his employees must travel like other business people, but they don’t have to occupy MIQ rooms and other Kiwis from the To keep from returning home.

Sir Ian Taylor hopes that his No. 151 Off The Bench system for the private care of international business travelers will free up much-needed space in MIQ hotels. Photo / Michael Craig

When the government announced 150 places for businesspeople looking to run a private self-isolation system last month, Taylor said he didn’t want to take any of those places either. Instead, he reached out to the government so he could test his own system, # 151 Off The Bench, which he believes will be Covid-19 proof.

“We don’t ask anything from MIQ. We want to create a system that runs in parallel. That means that the people who don’t have the resources we have can get these offers and come home. I would feel awful. ” to take an MIQ slot, I wouldn’t take one. “

He will be making a brief visit to the US in November, just in time for a golf meeting with Fox Sport in LA and another with Major League Baseball in San Francisco. A lot is at stake for Taylor knowing that his trial will be very public and open.

“This is about doing a full-screen test of how companies can work to keep the economy going.”

If he can show it’s working, he sees no reason why the “Roadmap for the Future” couldn’t be expanded outside of business to include sports and cultural teams, government officials, film crews currently occupying MIQ rooms.

At 71, Sir Ian Taylor knows he belongs to a high-risk group but is confident that he will be safe. Photo / Warren Buckland

Taylor is aware at the age of 71 that he belongs to the high risk category if he becomes infected with Covid-19 despite his double vaccination.

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“I’m really in the danger zone, but that’s how confident I am. Yes, I am vulnerable, but that’s why my mask doesn’t come off. That’s why I have the best mask you can buy. ”He said.

“I’ll have tools and tests with me so I can test every day just to make sure I haven’t picked it up (Covid-19). I will not go near a restaurant, cafe or pub “I’m there for a meeting, and most of all, I’m there to make sure I don’t get Covid because otherwise I won’t be home. Me Don’t get on a plane until I prove I’m negative. “

Back in Auckland, Taylor will then isolate himself in a hotel and continue testing.

Taylor recognized the speed with which the government had accelerated his proposal, notably the Secretary of State for Economic Development Stuart Nash, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury David Parker and Carolyn Tremain, Executive Director of MBIE.

Carolyn Tremain, Director of the Department for the Economy, Innovation and Employment, supported the # 151 Off The Bench initiative. Photo / included

“They were really great. When they saw my plan, they were really interested in my idea and the technology I was finding, especially the one in New Zealand.”

Now Taylor will partner with MBIE to merge its # 151 plans with the 150 private business spots.

“The main goal was to say,“ We ​​are here to talk. Can we help?’

Taylor hopes that a private MIQ system will help open up the economy and give some security to companies that need to post employees abroad. And he’s confident # 151 will work. His “roadmap” includes technology, including a geo-fence clock that will act like a virtual fence around Taylor’s room if he self-isolates on his return to Auckland.

“If I wear this watch on my wrist, I can’t take it off. As soon as I take it off, the alarm bells will ring and you’re in big trouble, ”he said.

“The people in this system are not going to jump over fences and break the rules because the cost is too high. We have to develop a system that is bulletproof and doesn’t require large amounts of resources or we’ll just be like MIQ again. “