Four new cases of Covid have been announced today, all people who have recently arrived back in new Zealand (from India and Nepal) and were being managed in isolation. One man in his 30s was taken by ambulance to Auckland Hospital yesterday and is said to be in a stale condition. That is the first case in hospital for quite a while.
Of the 2,159 people who left managed isolation facilities between June 9 and June 16, after mandatory day three and day 12 testing was brought in and before compassionate leave was withdrawn:
- test results are still pending for 342 people
- there are still 427 people the ministry hasn’t been able to get hold of, despite repeated attempts
- 137 people who will not be tested because of reasons such as being a child, being part of repositioning crew, currently being overseas or refusing a test
- 79 people have refused testing.
Total | Change in last 24 hours | |
---|---|---|
Number of confirmed cases in New Zealand | 1,176 | 4 |
Number of probable cases | 350 | 0 |
Number of confirmed and probable cases | 1,526 | 4 |
Number of recovered cases | 1,484 | 0 |
Number of deaths | 22 | 0 |
Number of active cases | 20 | 4 |
Number of cases currently in hospital | 1 | 1 |
Meanwhile the Managed isolation and quarantine review has just been released.
RNZ: NZ’s managed isolation system not broken, but under ‘extreme stress’ – review
A review of the country’s managed isolation and quarantine system has found it to be under “extreme stress” and unable to respond to the increasing demands being placed on it as more New Zealanders return home.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern ordered the review on June 17 on the same day she announced she was appointing Air Commodore Darryn Webb to conduct the review and oversee border management.
Air Commodore Webb, along with Housing Minister Megan Woods – who has been appointed the minister-in-charge of quarantine and isolation facilities – announced the outcome of the review at Parliament today.
While the review found the system wasn’t “broken” it revealed the increased number of people returning to New Zealand and going into managed isolation was putting pressure on accommodation facilities and staff were only able to respond to daily challenges.
The review also identified there was an absence of standardised information for those returning to New Zealand and often the first they knew of MIQ was when they had a health check on arrival at the airport.
In many cases returning passengers weren’t even aware MIQ was required.
Other issues identified in the review were flight manifestos not being received until the inbound aircraft departs its overseas origin, which makes planning ahead of flights almost impossible and leaves little time for changes, particularly for flights from Australia.
There is also limited understanding of future demand making it difficult to do any long-range planning of the system.
Managed isolation and quarantine review
The government has today released the review of the Managed Isolation and Quarantine and outlined the actions that are being taken to respond to issues highlighted by the review.
Head of Managed Isolation and Quarantine Air Commodore Darryn Webb says significant changes have already been introduced and work is urgently underway to address other issues raised in the review report.
Last week Air Commodore Webb announced a doubling of the on-the-ground Defence Force staff of 32, across 18 facilities. As of today, we have 168 NZDF personnel across 21 facilities providing 24/7 coverage. There are also more government and defence staff across the end-to-end system.
“This increased resourcing has had an immediate impact on the ground in terms of making sure our people are well supported to carry out their roles and ensure the safe transfer of returnees into managed isolation.
“The increase in resourcing will form the backbone of further changes that are being made to ensure the system is robust and fit-for-purpose.
“We have also increased oversight of the transfer of returnees from aircraft through to Managed Isolation and Quarantine facilities so they are escorted by government staff.”
Other improvements rolling out now include:
- Increased security for transferring returnees to managed isolation facilities
- The standardisation of procedures across all facilities
- The introduction of better information for returnees – from flight boarding through to entry into New Zealand and their exit from Managed Isolation.
- Better information to communities where those facilities are located.
- Strengthening of demand forecasting, reporting functions and coordination between agencies.
Health responses include:
- More staff in facilities
- Improved model of care – including taking into account issues like mental health and addiction issues
- More clinical oversight to ensure a consistent quality of service in facilities
- Monitoring to ensure there is consistency across facilities
“All staff supporting this process are performing to a very high standard, and have been doing so over a long period of sustained and increasing pressure. I would like to acknowledge and thank them for their ongoing work and dedication to the job. I am committed to ensuring they have the support and structures that they need to deliver well- functioning Managed Isolation and Quarantine for all New Zealanders,” Air Commodore Webb says.