Coronavirus: Campervans 'very useful' to potentially quarantine influx of returning New Zealanders - Dr Ashley Bloomfield

The Government may consider firing up the Whangaparāoa Army Base again so it can cope with the influx of returning New Zealanders that will go into managed isolation.

The base was used in February to quarantine Kiwis who'd returned from Wuhan, and now it could become a campervan city again.

Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfied says they could be used in the short-term.

"We may be able to use campervans again because they worked very well," he said on Monday.

"That could be a very useful way to stand up additional capacity. These issues are under very active discussion in government."

But Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says this is a last resort because they've "got other options first".

Capacity to quarantine returning New Zealanders has been an issue. A bus-load of travellers were sent to Rotorua at the last minute late on Saturday night after Auckland hotels were completely full.

Around 850 more people are expected to arrive in the next fortnight, with only half as many checking out of quarantine.

It costs about $4000 for each arrival's stay, and it's expected the hotel quarantine bill will reach $379 million by the end of 2020, all at the expense of taxpayers.

Parts of Australia such as the Northern Territory are already charging returning travellers for quarantine, and Queensland is about to. There it costs about $200 per night, so $2800 for the fortnight, and lower-income families pay less.

New Zealand went 24 consecutive days with zero new COVID-19 cases, and it was only last week the Government suffered a blunder after two women were released from quarantine without being tested. It meant testing was ramped up, and now there are nine new cases.

"[Testing] more people is the first answer [meaning there are more cases], the second is this pandemic is growing," Ardern said.

The two new cases announced on Monday are a teenager who flew in from Pakistan on June 13 and a man who flew from India on June 15.

"The teenager flew from Islamabad, via Doha, into Melbourne and into Auckland," Dr Bloomfied said. "Her only symptom was a runny nose."

The man, who is in his 30s, hasn't reported any symptoms, Dr Bloomfield said. This man was also on the same flight from Delhi as another active case in New Zealand.

It means five cases have arrived from India, two from Pakistan and two from the UK so far.