Escape prompts isolation security review
AUCKLAND: Security at mandatory quarantine and isolation hotels is being reviewed after a man who tested positive for Covid19 escaped isolation, and most of where he went for more than an hour remains a mystery.
The 32yearold man, who recently arrived from India on July 3 with the virus, snuck out of managed isolation at the Stamford Plaza Hotel on Tuesday evening, and spent about 20 minutes at the Countdown in Victoria St West.
The man was away for 70 minutes, and noone knows where he went in the 50 minutes before and after the supermarket.
Health Minister Chris Hipkins slammed the man’s actions as ‘‘selfish’’ and said he would face charges.
He said processes will now be reviewed, but would not describe the episode as a failure of the
Government’s processes.
The escape follows that of a 43yearold woman at the weekend who climbed two fences to escape the Pullman Hotel. She was found and returned about 80 minutes later.
Both will be charged and now each face up to a sixmonth jail sentence or a $4000 fine.
Mr Hipkins said he understood the escape would cause anxiety, particularly for people who were in the area that night.
The man had been in a smoking area outside the hotel where new 1.82mhigh fences were being installed, and dashed through a gap in the fencing.
A security guard observing the area confused the man with contractors working on the fencing, and by the time alarm was raised a few minutes later, security was unable to find the man.
The man returned of his own volition 70 minutes after he left, and his movements in the Auckland CBD are being investigated.
The man tested positive for Covid19 at around day three of his stay, but did not know he had the virus at the time when he was away from the hotel. His result only came back yesterday morning.
Air Commodore Darryn Webb said: ‘‘Inquiries have established the man went to Countdown on Victoria St West on foot and purchased items at a selfservice checkout, before returning to the hotel around 8pm.’’
The man had been wearing a mask, but not for the whole 70 minutes he was away.
Air Com Webb said the systems at quarantine or managed isolation facilities were being reviewed, including smoking policies.
The Countdown store had been closed for cleaning and would reopen at 7am today.
Countdown’s general manager health and safety Kiri Hannifin said police came into the store just before closing on Tuesday.
‘‘Once I was made aware of the incident this morning I made the decision to close the store. We were not advised to close the store, nor did we know until mid morning that the man was Covid19 positive,’’ Mr Hannifin said.
‘‘We did so because we thought it was the right thing to do. We have 18 team members now self isolating and they will continue to be paid in full for all of their shifts during [that period].’’
Store manager Varun Chowdary said the wellbeing of customers, team and communities remained its highest priority.
Otago University epidemiologist Prof Michael Baker said the risk of people catching the virus was probably small, even for those who happened to be in the supermarket.
‘‘I’d take it he was wearing a mask at that point, which would be pretty important because there is a lot of source protection, and the chances of infecting people around him would’ve been greatly reduced,’’ Prof Baker said. ‘‘If he was wearing a mask, and the amount of contact with people was very short, the risk of him affecting people around him will have been very low.’’
Prof Baker said such breaches should be kept in proportion, and used to improve processes, rather than as blaming exercises.
Another scientist also pointed out that New Zealanders will have to accept an increased risk if New Zealand opts to open its borders to more people.
Prof Michael Plank, of the University of Canterbury, said based on current travel numbers, New Zealand could expect about 12 cases a week arriving, but was confident these could be caught with the 14day managed isolation.
He said New Zealand should not rush to open its borders.
❛ If he was wearing a mask, and the amount of contact with people was very short, the risk of him affecting people around him will have been very low
CANNABIS, Black Lives Matter, tourism and the economy were all up for discussion during an at times fiery political debate in Dunedin yesterday.
Politicians from four of the five parliamentary parties took part in the wideranging debate on the Covid19 response at the University of Otago.
The event, organised by the Otago University Debating Society, attracted a large crowd.
One of the key issues was how best to manage the postCovid recovery.
Green Party coleader James Shaw said the Covid situation presented both an opportunity and responsibility to invest in issues such as climate change, protecting nature, and reducing poverty.
For Labour MP and Minister David Parker, maintaining ‘‘social cohesion’’ was critical to recovery efforts.
‘‘You have to take people with you. To take people with you, you have to have voluntary compliance with rules that are necessary to protect all of us,’’ he said.
There also needed to be support for those impacted economically by Covid, through no fault of their own, he said.
At the other end of the table were Dunedinbased National health spokesman Michael Woodhouse and Act New Zealand leader David Seymour.
Mr Woodhouse said a key way to help the economy was to ‘‘get the country going as quickly and as safely as we can’’.
‘‘If we were to open too soon and put risks in that we had to shut down again, that is a tremendous economic risk that’s currently being managed in a very conservative way.
‘‘We would suggest to you that there is other alternatives to that, which does involve opening up safely and carefully, because you’re not spending money on the people losing their jobs, the focus has to be on preventing job losses in the first place.’’
Mr Seymour saw reason for optimism, saying the pandemic presented an opportunity for New Zealand in that skilled people would want to return to the country due to its success in fighting Covid19.
‘‘Being an isolated country is possibly one of the best blessings we’ve ever had.’’
When asked about the potential impact of the cannabis legalisation referendum, three of the four speakers revealed they would vote in favour.
Dunedin Green Party candidate Jack Brazil subbed in for Mr Shaw, who had to leave to catch a flight.
Mr Parker did not believe legalisation would significantly change rates of cannabis use, or have a major economic impact either way.
Mr Seymour said he was voting ‘‘yes’’ because he worried that people who sought cannabis on the black market were turning to methamphetamine when it was not available.
Mr Woodhouse was the lone critic, saying the cost of legalised cannabis after taxation and licensing fees would drive people to the black market anyway.
‘‘The simple question I will be answering before I go to the ballot box is, as the health spokesperson and hopefully future Health Minister, is will the health of New Zealanders be better or worse as a consequence of legalisation?’’