Returning overseas Kiwis are arriving at DoubleTree by Hilton, Chateau on the Park on Kilmarnock Street this weekend and the minister in charge is confident they’ll stay put.

Megan Woods spent Friday afternoon in Christchurch assessing quarantine facilities, meeting officials from the Canterbury District Health  Board, New Zealand Defence Force, Christchurch police,  Ngāi Tahu, and the Christchurch Airport Company.

Three hotels in Christchurch are operating as quarantine facilities. 

The other two include Commodore hotel on Memorial Ave, along with the  Sudima Christchurch airport hotel.

Minister Woods says the operational lead at all managed isolation facilities is a member of the New Zealand Defence Force.

Her observation from the facilities she’s visited is that they have really “robust procedures.”  

“We got a walkthrough from when a bus is led to the hotel, where it pulls up, to what happens when people disembark.”

There’s no normal check-in procedure. Passengers are ‘health checked’ and sent straight to their rooms.”

“It was incredibly well run, and one thing that really made me feel at ease, at all of the facilities, was that all the staff felt really safe.”

Woods says during her visits, she didn’t see any returnees.

“These aren’t hotels where people are mingling about, it’s all very carefully managed.”

“I didn’t feel anxious, there are really good procedures and processes in place. You sign in, you sanitise, you put on your PPE, you make sure you’re physical distancing, there are no shaking hands. 

It’s a level four world inside, but a level one world outside.”

Questions have been raised as to why a Minister responsible for housing, Christchurch regeneration, research science and innovation, energy and resources has been asked to take on another role, and arguably the most important of all.

Megan Woods’ political responsibilities have been compared to that of former Government Minister Steven Joyce, who assumed to role of “Mr Fix it” in the Key Government. 

But Minister Woods doesn’t see it that way saying during level four she was already responsible for the temporary accommodation service because of her Housing Minister Portfolio.

Woods’ picked up that portfolio following the fallout of Kiwi build led by Phil Twyford.  

Megan Woods’ was asked by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to oversee the quarantine facilities.

But was she hesitant to take on a role that assumes the responsibility of the New Zealand population’s health?

In her signature no-nonsense tone, with a slight smile in her voice, she says “generally, in any government, in any stripe, when the prime minister asks you to do something you say definitely, prime minister. “It’s a big challenge, and it’s really important to the country.”

Earlier in the day, National’s Gerry Brownlee told Newstalk ZB the country dodged a bullet, given all the border issues widely reported.

Megan Woods freely admits processes could have been better.

“It’s worth remembering the requirements to get testing on top of clinical evidence tell us that the best line of defence is that people should be isolated for 14 days because that’s the life cycle of the virus.”

“The reason why I can have some kind of calmness about the world in which we’re operating in is the fact that people are isolating for 14 days and that is the most important line of defence.”

Megan Woods says she never wondered why embattled Health Minister David Clarke didn’t take on her new role, saying health is a massive portfolio and she is still working closely with Clarke.

“We in Christchurch understand more than anywhere in the country, that at some point you have to move beyond the emergency response, and it’s entirely appropriate to have a different minister to come in and work in the medium-term needs.”

Media’s reported one quarantined woman feeling like she was being held “hostage” at the hotel in Auckland.

But the stories are different in Christchurch.

Several callers to Newstalk ZB’s Chris Lynch’s morning show recounted positive experiences. 

Megan Woods says hotels have to meet a “certain health-driven criteria around things like natural light.”

“The size of the rooms are taken into account “because it’s not like you’re just saying there for a night.”

 “People can’t just leave the hotel. You wouldn’t get out, and if you do there’s a four thousand dollar fine or six months imprisonment.”

 She says there are four New Zealand Defence Force at each site, there are non-uniformed operational police staff, aviation security staff – AVSEC, there’s hotel staff security, you can’t just wander in and out.

Megan Woods says there’s about 600 people employed across 20 or so facilities, but it does actually require some personal responsibility. 

“We all made a sacrifice, by staying home, to get to the most fortunate position in the world, because we decided we were going to play by the rules and none of us had the police or a member of the military standing outside our doors, so we’re asking people who come home, to make a two weeks sacrifice.” 

An earlier version of this story said Sudima in central city Christchurch was being used as a quarantine facility, the information provided was incorrect. This article has since been updated.