The three new cases of Covid-19 caught at New Zealand's border have raised questions over transfer protocols, as Auckland isolation facilities fill up.
One of the new cases, a woman in her 30s who travelled from Peru, meant the Ibis hotel in Rotorua went into lockdown yesterday, with no one allowed to leave their rooms for most of the day.
But some returned Kiwis staying in Rotorua say it’s the transfer journey from Auckland that’s got them worried. Sophie Brown says passengers were taken from their flight, which had strictly enforced social distancing and mask use, to a crowded bus with no mask provision.
“When we got back to the airport, we were loaded up onto a bus and just told to fill it up, people were sitting next to each other, I was sitting next to someone.”
“When yesterday happened with the lockdown I definitely think it was at the forefront of everyone's minds. Just the thought of ‘oh if someone’s positive, were they on my bus? Were they next to me?’ It really could have been anyone. How much has my chance of getting Covid increased from that bus trip?”
Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield says he’s “looking at” enforcing mask use on transfers, but wouldn’t elaborate further.
The other two new cases, a man in his 70s and a man in his 30s who both travelled from India on June 20, were transferred to Christchurch via a charter flight after arriving in Auckland.
Currently air crew on those transfer flights aren’t required to isolate, even if the flights have carried positive cases.
Dr Bloomfield said there were “very safe” protocols for the transfer flights down to Christchurch, but he’d look into making isolation mandatory for crew on flights with positive cases.
“They will be taking PPE precautions, but we will be taking a look at that as part of appropriate contact tracing. That’s what we did with the flights that came from Australia where we identified aircrew, we isolated them and they've been tested.”
Ms Brown says many returning New Zealanders in tough circumstances have faced harsh comments from the public.
“A lot of people are coming back from situations where they'd lost their jobs, they spent the last of their life-savings paying to get back here, paying for really expensive flights, other people are coming back for funerals”.
“We're going to be paying taxes at the end of the day, so it's not just like we're trying to get a free ride into a Covid-free country. We're looking to set life back up and do our part in New Zealand.”
She says she and her fellow guests had no issues with things like rooms and food, which had been good.
“I think if people are complaining about things like food it is a bit ridiculous. The concerns are with the lack of communication, and the processes that are in place that haven't maintained social distancing.”
The Ministry of Health is still chasing up 695 people who may have left isolation without a test, sending texts out urging people to answer their phones.
Dr Bloomfield says he’s “very keen for those people to actually pick up the call”.
“168 of those 695 people had invalid numbers, so we are referring them to finding services, this is where we use Customs and police databases to locate them.”
Dr Bloomfield says there’s still no sign of community transmission in New Zealand, despite labs completing 10,436 tests yesterday - a new record.
Do you have a story about managed isolation? Contact our reporter Kristin Hall on kristin.hall@tvnz.co.nz
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