Covid home visit not tried after phone calls failed Bridges and Goldsmith in stoush with Speaker
Health officials did not try to visit the home of the Papatoetoe High School student who eventually developed Covid-19, despite repeated failures to contact her by phone, Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield says.
The case was one of 11 students health officials had not been able to make direct contact with and test in the eight days after the first case emerged at the school on February 14. This meant they had not had a test until they developed symptoms on February 22, despite health officials ordering every student to get a test and to selfisolate. A sibling of the case also developed Covid-19 and worked at a shop over the weekend.
The 11 remaining students on February 22 were a tiny fraction of the more than 1400 students that health officials had managed to contact directly and get tested last week. Bloomfield told media yesterday the home address of this student was known but a home visit was not attempted, despite repeated attempts to ring them on the phone failing.
‘‘I don’t think there was a point of failure. There were repeated efforts. I have seen the log of the calls that were attempted both to the home and the student themselves – the challenge was that there was not any communication established,’’ Bloomfield said.
‘‘My understanding is there were not any visits done before the end of the weekend but that is now happening. It is not that there were not repeated attempts.
‘‘There may have been reasons why they could not get to testing.
‘‘The important thing here was we had put in place a protocol where no student or staff-member could return to school without returning a negative test. Between 98 and 99 per cent of those people had been tested and we had results back by Monday. There was a small group that are now being very actively followed up.’’
Despite the lack of direct contact, Bloomfield said he was confident the student had got the overall message to stay home from school until she had a test.
He said you could call this ‘‘bad luck – but you can’t rely on luck with this virus’’.
Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said the matter was ‘‘frustrating’’ but he ‘‘did not want to jump to conclusions’’.
Home visits were a tool that the contact tracing could use, Hipkins confirmed.
National Party leader Judith Collins said the situation was ‘‘really sad’’. ‘‘It probably indicates the ministry should get into their cars, go and see people in their homes, and knock on the doors. We have got plenty of experience knocking on people’s doors and we can help them.’’
Senior National MPs Simon Bridges and Paul Goldsmith stormed out of Parliament over a stoush with Speaker Trevor Mallard during Question Time yesterday.
Goldsmith complained it was a ‘‘waste of time’’ as he left and Bridges was heard to say ‘‘what a t...’’.
This was heard by a reporter in the gallery and an MP close enough to hear.
The exit came after Goldsmith’s supplementary line of questions was halted by the Speaker.
Mallard said he had halted the line of questioning because Goldsmith was questioning one of his rulings – in this case whether or not Goldsmith could have known that the Speaker was standing up, which signals to members that they must sit down.
Goldsmith said he was looking the other way at this point so could not be expected to know whether or not the Speaker was on his feet. Mallard suggested he should have ‘‘used his ears’’.
Shadow leader of the House Chris Bishop sought leave to move a motion of no confidence in Mallard at the end of Question Time.
This failed.
Bridges has been asked for comment.
Mallard said he had not heard Bridges’ comment and no-one had raised it with him, so there would be no consequences.
Asked whether it was fair to expect Goldsmith to know when he was standing, Mallard said Goldsmith was supposed to be addressing the Speaker at the time, not the House itself.
The stoush comes at a time of high tension in Parliament, which has been sitting in urgency for the Government to pass its changes to the law governing Ma¯ ori wards.
The extended committee stage resulted in members’ day and general debate being cancelled yesterday, and many select committee annual review hearings being postponed.
Bridges also found himself in hot water with his leader over an attack on Police Commissioner Andrew Coster, who he said was a ‘‘wokester’’.
Collins told media that MPs should keep their attacks to ministers, not public servants.