Man in ‘limbo’ as Covid test lost
A man says he is trapped in ‘‘limbo’’ under managed isolation after officials lost his Covid-19 test.
Yesterday, New Zealander
Nick Frentz said he was on day 16 of a planned 14-day stay in the Grand Mercure Hotel in Auckland after travelling from the United Kingdom via Sydney.
He was meant to leave on Thursday – ending 14 days in isolation. ‘‘And then the policy changed . . . and that new policy was that you can’t leave the hotel without a test.’’
He was tested on Thursday. By yesterday the rest of those who were tested with him – about 20 people – were cleared and left. Only Frentz remained.
He said Health Ministry staff onsite had no luck when they raised his problem ‘‘further up the chain’’.
‘‘According to the health system, I don’t exist. But because I’m here, I can’t leave without a negative test. I’m in this limbo where nothing can happen.’’
Last night, Frentz said he had just been told his test was lost by the lab and he would need to be retested.
He couldn’t get re-tested at the weekend – but ‘‘maybe I can get tested again on Monday’’.
‘‘Even if I do, that means the results won’t come back till Tuesday, potentially Wednesday, and I would have spent a whole other week in managed isolation, just because the Ministry of Health have f ..... up.’’
Earlier yesterday, DirectorGeneral
of Health, Ashley Bloomfield had told Stuff that he was ‘‘very confident’’ no tests had been lost. ‘‘We have been doing some catch-up . . . we’ve got good lab capacity, they can turn the results around within 24 hours.’’
He said they were very keen to avoid delaying people after the 14-day isolation period.
Frentz said he was stuck waiting because only official Covid-19 nurses were allowed into the hotel to test him.
‘‘Even if I wanted to pay for someone else to do the test, they wouldn’t be allowed across the threshold and I wouldn’t be allowed out.’’
He said he felt ‘‘terrible’’ after the latest news, and there was nothing to do in the hotel. ‘‘With new flights coming in, I don’t want to risk getting out there and mingling, so the only option I have is to stay in my room.’’ Frentz was booked into a flight to Wellington to meet his brother, but had to cancel that, he said. With no work in the UK, Frentz returned to New Zealand to be reunited with his family. He planned to stay for three months. The ministry has been approached for comment.