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Afiqah Ramizi, president of the New Zealand International Students Association and a medical student at Auckland University. She says universities need to recognise that international students are not immune to financial hardship caused by Covid-19.
New Zealand’s international education sector used to be a major part of the economy. The $5 billion it pumped into the country annually supported around 45,000 jobs and made it New Zealand’s fifth-largest export earner. Universities New Zealand chief executive Chris Whelan says that, pre-Covid-19, the sector expected between 21,000 and 22,000 international students in 2020. About 7000 had not made it into the country.
A top New Zealand epidemiologist warns that pre-depature testing is not enough to keep Covid-19 out of New Zealand communities.