The Ministry of Health has apologised and ordered a rapid review after two women were put in MIQ for five days by mistake.
Justine Curtis and Laura Bunting were released from MIQ today. They arrived from Melbourne on Monday, before the travel pause with Victoria set in. They had been in Queensland the week before on different trips.
An exemption put in place from July 9 to July 12 permitted New Zealanders and Australian citizens who normally reside in New Zealand caught in Queensland to return, but the pair were deemed to have breached quarantine-free travel rules on arrival in Wellington.
Bunting and Curtis say their stay in MIQ was “incredibly confusing”. They were first released after spending just one day at the Grand Mercure isolation facility.
On Tuesday they were taken to Wellington Airport by officials after being told they could fly to Brisbane, then turn around and fly back to New Zealand to avoid MIQ. On arrival at the airport they were turned back to the Grand Mercure again.
Curtis, who is in New Zealand to see her gravely ill father in hospital, says she’s “relieved” to be let out for good.
“I’m out, and I can’t quite believe it. I’m able to jump onto an aeroplane and there be no issue. I’m absolutely looking forward to just getting on the plane and going home, it's going to be very tearful.”
Bunting says the situation is a result of confusion at the border around the ever-evolving travel bubble rules.
“When the Government is writing new policy there are contradictions within it and so what’s happened over the past four days is they’ve had a kick in the bum to rectify those contradictions that they push out.”
Director of Public Health Dr Caroline McElnay says the Ministry of Health is looking into the situation “to make sure it doesn’t happen again”.
“We've initiated a review to see what actually did happen. It was a misunderstanding and we unreservedly apologise to the two women and acknowledge the stress that this has caused them.”
“An urgent review of all other quarantine-free travellers from Australia who have been put into MIQ was completed this morning and the ministry’s assessment is that no other returnees in MIQ are affected by this issue. “
National’s Covid-19 spokesperson Chris Bishop says the situation with Curtis and Bunting is “comical ineptitude”.
“I think there are certainly improvements that need to be made in the way MIQ is administered particularly with quarantine free travel from Australia.”
He says the idea of returnees being offered the option to spend a night in MIQ and then fly to Australia in order to return to New Zealand again without isolating is “ridiculous”.
“The mind boggles as to the logic behind that. It doesn’t make any sense to me. The system’s got to be better than that.”
Curtis, Bunting and other recent returnees have told 1 NEWS they weren’t asked anything about their travel history before getting on the plane to New Zealand.
Charlie, a Kiwi citizen, says she’s spent a week so far in MIQ after returning from Australia. She was shocked to discover on arrival that she was deemed ineligible for quarantine-free travel.
“Being over there is stressful enough and trying to get home in time. To get here and find you're not going to go home, you're going to a hotel for two weeks is pretty distressing.”
The Ministry of Health says since the trans-Tasman bubble started in April, 80 travellers have breached quarantine travel rules and ended up in managed isolation. Of those, 69 are still in MIQ, having arrived within the last fortnight, a boost in numbers the ministry says is “larger than expected”.
McElnay says the Government will be getting in touch with Australian authorities about pre-departure requirements, but the boost in the number of ineligible travellers could be down to the addition of pre-departure testing.
“What’s added to the complexity of the quarantine free travel is the requirement for the predeparture test, that’s not something that was in place when quarantine free travel started.
“That’s a requirement now, and I really want to emphasise the importance of people having that pre-departure test before they get on the plane and come to New Zealand because it is one of our extra layers of security and protection to keep us safe from Covid.”
Bunting says she feels “vindicated”, to be let out.
“I was absolutely sure I hadn’t done anything wrong…It's actually nice to know that I did do the right thing the whole time.”
Do you know more about this story? Contact our reporter Kristin Hall on kristin.hall@tvnz.co.nz
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