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Overview
These paper fortune cookies were made by Kristin Koch and are one of the activities in the MIQ Paper Bag Craft Class she created. During her stay at an MIQ (managed isolation and quarantine) facility in Auckland in February-March 2021, Kristin used her experience as an occupational therapist to develop a 14-day craft class that would help others combat isolation and boredom, while making functional crafts in the process.
Managed Isolation and Quarantine
MIQ was a key part of New Zealand’s border control strategy for managing the Covid-19 outbreak. From April 2020 to March 2022 international arrivals to New Zealand had to stay in a managed isolation facility, initially for 14 days and then, from February 2022, for 7 days. The government contracted hotels to use as MIQ facilities, and at their height these facilities could accommodate 12,600 people every 28 days. In all, nearly 230,000 people returned to New Zealand through an MIQ facility.
Kristin Koch
Kristin and her husband travelled to the United States in February 2020 so that Kristin could have a year at home. They arrived right before Covid-19 started spreading widely. Throughout the year Kristin had various roles in the health sector, including working in rehabilitation, being part of a Covid-19 emergency management team, creating a backup Covid-19 hospital, and providing information on Covid-19 and vaccines. In July 2020 Kristin contracted Covid-19 while working in a hospital, and it took her many months to recover.
MIQ Paper Bag Craft Class
In February 2021 the couple returned to New Zealand to work in healthcare. They were required to spend two weeks in managed isolation so Kristin joined the Hotel Quarantine New Zealand Facebook group, which as of August 2021 had more than 15,000 members. She saw how many people in MIQ were bored and wanted to help them find something meaningful to do with their time. For fourteen days from February 25 2021, she posted instructions for a new craft to the Facebook group each day, making use of the paper bags that meals were delivered in. The crafts were designed to brighten up the hotel room or make it a little more functional.
Kristen estimates that about 500 people participated in the MIQ Paper Bag Craft class in some way – 300 people followed her posts while she was in managed isolation and another 200 people discovered the posts later and created the crafts. More than 100 people have messaged her directly asking for the PDF instructions, and Kristin has heard that some MIQ wellness teams give out printed copies. Fellow crafters have posted images of their finished creations online, and one person even created a TikTok video showing the crafts she made using Kristin’s instructions.
Community in Isolation
Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic people found various ways of connecting across quarantine barriers while remaining physically distant – from putting pictures and teddy bears in windows, to creating online communities and sharing ideas. Kristin’s Craft Class represents the widespread phenomenon of people engaging in creative acts to help find meaning during the Covid-19 crisis, and demonstrates how 'engaging in creativity can be used as a shield against the negative consequences' of the pandemic (Kapoor & Kaufman 2020, 2).
References
- Deguara, Brittney. 202. From day 0 to day 14: What it's like inside a Covid-19 managed isolation facility. Stuff. https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/124648423/from-day-0-to-day-14-what-its-like-inside-a-covid19-managed-isolation-facility
- Kapoor, Hansika & James C. Kaufman. 2020. Meaning-Making Through Creativity During COVID-19. Frontiers in Psychology, Vol 11. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7775492/
- Koch, Kristin. 2021. Unpublished notes provided to curator, 28 July and 6 August.
- Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, [2022]. MIQ timeline. About MIQ. https://www.mbie.govt.nz/immigration-and-tourism/isolation-and-quarantine/managed-isolation-and-quarantine/about-miq/miq-timeline/
- Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, 2022. Briefing for the Incoming Minister for Covid-19 Response: Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ). https://www.beehive.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2022-08/BIM%20Hon%20Ayesha%20Verrall%20-%20COVID-19%20Response%20-%20Managed%20Isolat ion%20%26%20Quarantine.pdf (PDF)
7 November 2022