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The Prime Minister said that as soon as she learned of the failure, she directly alerted her team, which then directly alerted the team that was responsible. That was Sunday morning and was removed at 1:37 p.m., Ardern said.
“I think the important point to make here is that obviously this was never an official advice from the Director General or a council that came to the Government or a decision that was made. Something of that nature, you can imagine, we would have been amplifying “.
The wrong message telling South and West Auckland residents to get tested was posted on the Health Ministry website on Friday. It was then posted on the official government social media pages ‘United Against COVID-19’.
Ardern was asked about the message during her press conference Sunday, and she described it as “incorrect” and “overly simplified.” She also said the message made her “incredibly angry” because of its potential to cause alarm.
“We are asking people who have cold symptoms, who have flu symptoms and if they have any connection to the cases that we are very focused on currently, those are the people we want to be tested,” he said. .
Ardern started the press conference on Sunday by explaining why Auckland was moving to alert level 2 even though there are still cases of COVID-19 in the community. She did not mention the lack of communication until asked about it.
Collins asked Ardern in Parliament Tuesday why he didn’t use his 16-minute preamble during Sunday’s press conference to address incorrect test instructions posted online, if it was that important.
The question was met with a fiery response from Ardern.
“The suggestion in some way that we were unwilling to acknowledge the misreporting of information … We are constantly available, every day, to answer questions about our COVID response,” Ardern said.
“We are here to be held accountable for our COVID response. We never shirk that duty. If the member somehow assumes that because I wanted to share correct information on my stand-up instead of incorrect information, that is the member’s own interpretation.
“I just don’t accept that we ever put ourselves in a position not to be in front because we do it every day.”
Ardern said that if the instruction were legitimate, it would not have been posted on social media.
“If it was such an important and meaningful message as an expectation to test hundreds of thousands of people in that way, that’s something we wouldn’t leave on a website, Instagram or Twitter,” he said.
“It would be something that we would amplify if that were the advice of the Director General of Health and something that Health would like to have as a message to ask the public.”
He urged MPs to help share accurate information with the public.
“I know that all members of this House will want members of the public to have information that is accurate and reliable, so once again, I always implore all members, regardless of which side of the House they are on, to follow sharing messages. get tested “.
The government has launched an investigation into how the incorrect messages were shared online.
