Bubbles burst: Virus risk at MIQ centres

Health experts call for action after 76 incidents of rule-breaking in 27 of the 32 managed isolation facilities in NZ

Guests, staff and security have been breaching the rules in managed isolation and quarantine facilities about once every 36 hours.

While most of the incidents are considered minor in nature, each breach poses an unnecessary risk of the virus spreading.

There have been 76 incidents of rule-breaking — such as unauthorised mixing and mingling or failing to wear PPE — in 27 of the 32 MIQ facilities across the country since the start of August, according to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

None involve the kind of staffguest hook-ups that are thought to have sparked the Melbourne outbreak earlier this year that led to almost four months of harsh lockdown. “Most bubble breaches are minor in nature, such as children from different family bubbles playing in a corridor, or a staff member moving into a space where a guest had been shortly before, such as a lift, not wearing a mask,” an MIQ spokesperson said.

Two breaches were in quarantine facilities and 11 were in facilities that had a quarantine wing as well as an isolation wing.

Most of the incidents, 56, involved guests, but nine involved workers and three were by security guards.

It is unclear whether any resulted in a penalty, but the MIQ spokesperson said they were mainly met with an education approach and/or a warning.

The figure is set to climb higher with the latest breaches involving the Pakistan cricket team, which are not part of the tally as they are still being officially investigated.

Six players have tested positive despite testing negative before departing Pakistan. CCTV footage shows them leaving their rooms without masks, mingling and chatting in hallways, and passing items to each other.

And this week there have been further unconfirmed reports of unauthorised mixing in mingling.

“Friend of mine in quarantine in Auckland (who has just done his day 12 test) says they’re able to freely mingle with the new arrivals . . . does that seem weird to anyone?” tweeted journalist Damien Christie on Thursday.

Overseas arrivals in MIQ are meant to be kept in separate cohorts to avoid mixing and mingling, which could see Covid-19 passed to a group who have already had a negative day-12 test and are on the verge of re-entering the community.

Otago University Professor and specialist public health physician Philip Hill was unsurprised by the number of breaches, saying it was a sign of normal human behaviour and the sheer volume of MIQ traffic — up to 7000 people every fortnight.

“You’d expect, given the sheer volume of people coming through MIQ, that there would be some unauthorised mingling in MIQ.”

He added that the official number of MIQ breaches does not include any that elude the watchful eyes of staff or CCTV coverage.

The latest breaches by Pakistani players follow similar behaviour from the West Indies cricket team — caught on CCTV sharing f ood and socialising in MIQ hallways — earlier this month.

It has prompted public health experts to call for stricter rules for visitors from Covid-19 hotspots.

“This is in addition to the eight border control failures we’ve had since [the end of July], so we really need a major re-look at the system,” Otago University Professor Nick Wilson told RNZ.

“It’s a system design problem. We shouldn’t be relying on people being good.”

He and public health colleagues at Otago University — in a blogpost called “Time to stop dodging bullets?” — have been pushing for a risk-based “traffic light” border system to reduce the number of infected arrivals.

Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins has said imposing pre-departure rules for returning Kiwis may affect their right to come home.

He has described New Zealand’s MIQ system is strong as it’s ever been, and it already included multiple layers of defence.

"It’s a system design problem. We shouldn’t be relying on people being good."

Otago University Professor Nick Wilson