Previous Governments foresaw the possibility of an impact on the immigration system from an epidemic. The Act has a small number of emergency provisions that were triggered when the Prime Minister issued an epidemic management notice under the Epidemic Preparedness Act. Valid visas held by people in New Zealand, which would otherwise be due to expire, are automatically extended, so they will expire three months after the day on which the epidemic management notice expires, and adjustments can be made to detention on immigration grounds. Those settings have the effect of buying us time to address some of the practical challenges by giving onshore visa holders certainty about their visa status at a time of significant disruption. Around 80,000 temporary visas, which have been automatically extended under the epidemic legislation, will now expire on 26 September.