PM turns to military after border bungle

As more than 300 close contacts linked to New Zealand’s two Covid-19 cases are ‘‘encouraged’’ to get tested, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is bringing in a military leader to oversee the country’s isolation and quarantine facilities.

Ardern addressed media yesterday, as the fallout from Tuesday’s revelations that two women were able to leave mandatory isolation six days into their stay on compassionate grounds continued to intensify.

The assistant chief of defence, Air Commodore Digby Webb, has now been called in to oversee border facilities, including how travellers leave them.

Webb will also have access to the country’s military logistics, operational expertise and – if needed – have the power to bring in military personnel to help run the facilities.

Ardern said Webb would also audit existing systems and written protocols to ensure they were being implemented and would make changes as needed.

‘‘Our borders, and the controls at our borders, must be rigorous,’’ Ardern said.

‘‘They must be disciplined, and they must have the confidence of

ministers and all of you – New Zealanders – who got us here.’’

Webb will be required to regularly report to government ministers.

The lapses in judgment that occurred in the women’s case ended New Zealand’s 24-day Covid-free streak, and have prompted the suspension of compassionate exemptions. Overseas arrivals are meant to be tested on

days three and 12 of their 14-day isolation period. However, this did not happen in this case.

Ardern categorised the incident as representing ‘‘an unacceptable failure of the system’’.

‘‘It should never have happened and it cannot be repeated,’’ she said.

‘‘There is no room for error, even if it is human error. It is totally unacceptable that procedures

we were advised were in place, were not.’’

The Government acknowledged that the suspension of compassionate leave would be difficult for some.

‘‘I know this will be upsetting to some New Zealanders seeking to return home to visit dying relatives and loved ones. However, the risk to our collective efforts to eliminate Covid is

simply too great,’’ Ardern said.

Director-general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said he would take ‘‘responsibility for ensuring’’ no-one left the facilities without undergoing a test.

‘‘We have put in place a number of actions to provide the public and Government assurance that anyone arriving into New Zealand does not pose any risk from Covid-19,’’ Bloomfield said.

The two latest cases involve one woman in her 30s and another in her 40s. The pair entered the country on June 7, after flying from Britain through Doha and Brisbane.

They were granted early release from their isolation hotel, the Novotel Auckland Ellerslie, to comfort a relative in Wellington after a parent died.

Their application, lodged on Friday, was expedited, and they were allowed to make the journey to the capital on Saturday without undergoing a robust health check or Covid-19 test, contravening border protocols.

‘‘At this point, there are 320 identified close contacts. The majority of these will have been contacted by the end of the day. All of these people will be encouraged to get a test,’’ Bloomfield said.

The Ministry of Health said the two women and a family member who had since been tested for the virus were in self-isolation in the Hutt Valley.

One of the women had shown mild symptoms, but attributed them to a pre-existing medical condition, while the other was asymptomatic. Ardern, Bloomfield and Health Minister David Clark said the women had not done anything wrong.

Both women received their positive results on Tuesday, after a test at a Wellington centre.

National leader Todd Muller has called for Clark to be sacked, but when asked whether anyone would lose their jobs over the debacle, Ardern said her focus was on ‘‘fixing the system’’.

‘‘Dr Bloomfield has acknowledged that there has been a failure in the system, of which health is a part of. I will leave it to him to work through where responsibility may need to lay there,’’ Ardern said.

‘‘There are 320 identified close contacts . . . All of these people will be encouraged to get a test.’’

Dr Ashley Bloomfield Director-general of health