When Jakub Nawrot arrived in Auckland from Doha on Monday morning, he expected to be hit with questions about his movements, if he had been presenting any coronavirus symptoms, or if he knew he had to self-isolate.

Nawrot was on one of the first planes to arrive in New Zealand since the tough new travel restrictions were rolled out. But when he got off the plane, he said all he received was a leaflet.

Supplied Jakub Nawrot flew back to Auckland from Doha on Monday morning - the first day of the tough new travel restrictions.

"It was just a small leaflet to declare that I didn't have contact with covid-positive person, with a blank space to put my contact number and my permanent address for the Healthline to get in touch.

"I was expecting a comprehensive interview about all of my travel history, mandatory temperature check, even a swab sample if symptomatic. None of that happened."

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As of 1am on Monday, all arriving passengers were required to register their address with Healthline and self-isolate for 14 days to reduce the spread of the virus. There were already eight confirmed cases in New Zealand.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern previously explained the new measures would involve customs-like forms being filled out and handed to airport nurses who would then talk passengers through the process and requirements of self-isolation. But Nawrot, a diagnostic radiologist from Poland, didn't experience any of that.

"No details were give at all, no advice was given to any person from what I could see, nobody even asked if we had doubts [or] questions.

"Airport staff just collected those 'health declaration forms' which took seconds, and that's it, I was free to go."

He said he was "shocked" to see airport staff handling the documents without any protective gear.

RICKY WILSON/STUFF Some travellers managed to sneak into the country before the travel restrictions requiring self-isolation for 14 days were rolled out.

When Nawrot arrived around 5am, he noticed the customs queue was crowded - "nobody respects any distance when queuing" - and he overheard some travellers mocking the isolation requirements.

"Most people were concerned about their job duties, some can't work remotely. There definitely were people who just straight out laughed about those rules, complaining about being 'imprisoned' in their homes ... [I] heard 'this is [bull], I'm not gonna do it' commentary from an older guy as well.

"There were some travellers concerned about their long-awaited trip to New Zealand being ruined by this isolation procedure."

Phone calls and spot checks were being carried out by Healthline for all registered passengers, and anyone found refusing to cooperate could be forcefully quarantined or potentially deported.

Nawrot understood the need for self-isolation, and didn't even return home over fears of potentially exposing his wife and roommate to the virus. His wife filled a campervan with water and food, and left the keys on the wheel, so when he arrived he could just climb into the vehicle and drive to a remote and empty campsite nearby. He intended to stay there for at least 12 to 14 days.

"We all love [New Zealand] and would do anything to keep it safe."

The Auckland-based Polish native has been living between Europe and New Zealand for the last seven years. Based on the response to the virus in his home country and parts of Asia, he said he expected more from New Zealand.

"My impression is that New Zealand thinks that it is somewhat 'special' when it comes to pandemic preparedness, but I must say that all this facade might lead to terrible outcomes in the nearest future."

He thought Taiwan and South Korea's responses were ideal models, but they successfully helped contain the virus by widespread testing. Ardern previously said tests at the airport weren't an effective measure for stopping the virus, as they would sometimes produce false negatives.

On Monday, she explained that New Zealand was monitoring containment measures introduced in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore, especially around the lack of school closures, and making decisions accordingly.