The India travel ban is concerning and I really hope it is a short-term measure and there will be support for stranded travellers. People are rightly asking why travel bans weren& #39;t considered for countries like the UK or USA at the height of their recent waves.

The percentage of arrivals from the UK and USA testing positive in MIQ was mostly 1-2% around new year (UK has since declined). The percentage of arrivals from India testing positive had been around 2-5% but has shot up towards 10% in recent weeks.

10% positivity is scarily high, but actually consistent with some estimates of infection rates in Mumbai right now https://twitter.com/muradbanaji/status/1379703284110348289">https://twitter.com/muradbana...

The number of cases arriving from India at the NZ border has also consistently been a lot higher that what you would expect based on their reported cases. There is clearly a LOT of undocumented infection in India.

So overall I think the travel ban is justified as a stop gap measure but I just hope it doesn& #39;t become a long term ban and consideration is given to New Zealanders who are stranded with no way of getting home