Commentary: New Zealanders have every right to be ‘unbelievably angry’ at the government for incorrect Covid messages

COMMENTARY:

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is “incredibly angry” at her officials for pulling incorrect information from Covid-19 testing.

But New Zealanders have every right to be incredibly angry at the government for allowing that official message to remain unchanged for nearly an entire day.

That message was that everyone in South and West Auckland should get tested for Covid-19, even if they are asymptomatic.

It was posted from the government’s official Covid-19 social media channels and generated queues of people in the area seeking to get tested for Covid.

That means people with legitimate Covid symptoms faced a much, much longer wait, as likely thousands of people rushed to get tested.

The fact that the bottleneck occurred in the first place makes you lose faith.

The information affected some 700,000 people in the south and west of Auckland.

Ardern was “incredibly angry” at the publication of this “incorrect” information on official channels, and with good reason.

He said he was informed about the wrong message late this morning and made it clear that it needed to be fixed.

But the information kept popping up at almost 1:30 p.m.

Officials who get something as important as this erodes the public’s trust in government.
People must be able to trust the government for key information like this.

Ardern cannot allow people to think twice about this type of information, it is simply too important to ignore.

She said it herself today; Overcoming Covid-19 requires every member of the team of five million to play their part.

Ardern breaks free when it comes to blame for how the problem occurred.

She does not approve of all government messages that are sent, she has officials for that.

In fact, she clearly blamed those officials when pressured on the issue, saying that no minister had spoken such information.

But Ardern must take responsibility for what happened next.

The wrong post appeared at approximately 5pm last night; Most of the major news sites reported on him and he also made it to some Sunday newspapers.

Despite this, no formal correction notice was issued until the following day, according to Ardern.

And by notice of formal correction, Ardern meant that the communications team of All the Government, the people in charge of the mail, had notified the newsrooms around the country, telling them that the information was incorrect.

The Herald, which published the story that the government was advising everyone in the south and west of Auckland, received no such notification.

This is despite reporters seeking comment on the post.

In fact, Health Minister Chris Hipkins was interviewed by MediaWorks radio this morning and did not mention the fact that this critical information was wrong.

Ardern revealed the information was incorrect at his press conference at 1pm this afternoon.
Even then, he waited to be asked about the post instead of issuing the correction in his opening statement, a statement observed by hundreds of thousands of people every day.
Ardern said it had made it clear to the officials involved that they needed to correct the mistake.

Despite this, the post remained on the Unite Against Covid-19 Instagram page until almost 1.30pm.

Ardern should be furious at officials for this bungling, but New Zealanders should be just as furious at the government for not fixing the problem faster.

Timeline:

Saturday 5pm:

Social media channels Unite Against Covid-19 publish the advisory, telling everyone, including asymptomatic people, in the west and south of Auckland to get tested.

Saturday from 17:00 onwards: The media begins to report on the publication and the message.

Sunday 8.24am: The Herald contacted the All of Government communications team for comment; no answer until …

Sunday 11.09am: A communications spokesperson says a response will be in the mail soon, after they were followed up for a response.

Sunday 10.15am: Health Minister Chris Hipkins is interviewed by MediaWorks; it does not mention the fact that the message was incorrect.

Sunday morning (unspecified time): PM Jacinda Ardern was “briefed” on the position. She said she made it clear that the problem needed to be fixed.

Sunday 1:00 pm: The post with the incorrect information is still published; no official notice has been issued to the media about the publication.

Sunday 1:15 pm: Ardern is asked about the post, publicly admitting that it was wrong and that she was “incredibly angry.”

Sunday 1:26 pm: The Instagram page Unite Against Covid-19 still has the post; it was removed after Ardern was questioned about it at the 1pm press conference.

Sunday 1:39 pm: A notice from the All of Government Covid-19 official response unit issues an amended statement saying that only people who have been in contact with a confirmed or probable case should be tested, “even if they have no symptoms.”