Border bungle blot on record
Rarely has a cross-country road trip generated so much public scrutiny – and anxiety.
Analysis of the release of two Covid19-infected people after six days of hotel isolation, and their subsequent trip from Auckland to Wellington, has been wide-ranging. Initially the public were told they drove non-stop to Wellington, pausing only for toilet breaks. That version of events unravelled on Wednesday with details the women had got lost and met with friends for directions.
The women were allowed to leave isolation on compassionate grounds after a parent died. Fallout from the border bungle is intensifying, a situation not helped by an apparent unwillingness by anyone to take responsibility for this unfolding shambles. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has stressed blame does not lie with the two infected travellers but that didn’t stop the Government suspending compassionate leave for people in isolation.
Investigations into what went wrong are focused on fixing the system rather than a ‘‘witchhunt’’, Ardern said. Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters was more forthright, saying he wants to ‘‘find those at the coalface responsible’’.
The requirement for testing before release from isolation should have been clearer to those on the front line and rigorously enforced. That it wasn’t is staggering, given one of the women had symptoms.
Public anxiety over this quarantine breach is understandable, given what we know about how quickly Covid-19 can move through a population. If this lapse leads to new outbreaks, it’s going to be a difficult task getting Kiwis to retreat back into their bubbles.
Ardern’s decision to call on the military to oversee the country’s isolation and quarantine facilities has been met with little or no disquiet, a reflection of Kiwis’ eagerness to see our border controls beefed up. ‘‘Our borders, and the controls at our borders, must be rigorous. They must be disciplined, and they must have the confidence of ministers and all of you – New Zealanders – who got us here,’’ Ardern said. You can almost see New Zealand’s team of five million nodding solemnly in agreement.
There’s no doubt these two new cases represent a blot on our lauded Covid-19 record. And it may not be an isolated breach. Since Tuesday, other accounts have surfaced of people not following isolation rules and mingling with others. In Hamilton, a teenager and a child fled from authorities after being given a compassionate exemption from isolation to attend a large Mongrel Mob tangi. On RNZ, epidemiologist Sir David Skegg expressed concern that international airline crews are, in some cases, allowed to self-isolate for 48 hours rather than 14 days.
New Zealanders were justifiably proud of our Covid-19 free status, but our 24-day streak is over. Yesterday, officials confirmed another new case, a man in his 60s who had travelled from Pakistan.
If the events of this week prove anything, it is that we can’t say we’ve truly beaten Covid-19, not when the virus still circulates around the globe. Calls for a trans-Tasman bubble have been made in the belief that New Zealand has got the virus under control, with most anxiety focused on whether our Australian neighbours have got their act together. It’s a little more complicated now.
It’s now up to Ardern and her Government to restore the public’s confidence in our quarantine rules. If we’re lucky, and all the contact tracing comes back negative, this week will have served as a wake-up call against complacency.
You can almost see New Zealand’s team of five million nodding solemnly in agreement.