Covid 19 coronavirus: Epidemiologist criticizes ‘highly problematic’ border operation as Jacinda Ardern pours cold water on construction specialist MIQ

As Auckland wakes up united at alert level 1 with the rest of New Zealand, a leading epidemiologist is calling for a full review of the border operation.

Nick Wilson, a professor at the University of Otago, wants the government to build specially designed facilities on military bases away from city centers to prevent further incursions.

He called the current border response “highly problematic,” which was putting the nation at risk.

“The failure rate is so unsustainably high, with 11 border failures since last August.”

He even suggested that the government detain all returnees, except those with legitimate humanitarian needs, “so that we have time to act together at the border.”

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He said that at least “the tap should be turned off” until the border system can be reviewed and its safety guaranteed.

Wilson’s calls came just before Auckland returned to alert level 1 at midnight, after a week of restrictions to contain and track the Valentine’s Day group.

Another family member of the previously confirmed cases tested positive yesterday, but they were already in quarantine as a precautionary measure, so the case was considered “very low” risk.

Eight people tested positive for the outbreak, which is considered well contained even though the source of transmission remains a mystery.

The Cabinet also decided to continue to require the use of masks in public transport and for taxi and Uber drivers in New Zealand, with exemptions for meal services on flights and for children under 12 years of age. The move was celebrated by scientists who have long called for the rule.

An aerosol chemist from the University of Auckland, Joel Rindelaub, said that public transport could be a high-risk environment due to the limited ability to socially distance, and said “it is a good move to take a cautious approach.”

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she hoped covering her face “would become part of normal life.”

The order will continue to be reviewed as the vaccination program, which began with border workers over the weekend, is rolled out to the general population starting mid-year.

Ardern poured cold water on the need for specially designed quarantine facilities.

In the year it would take to immunize New Zealand’s “team of five million,” evidence could emerge that vaccination reduced transmissibility, Ardern said.

And that could “change” what was required at the border.

Meanwhile, building a specially designed 6,000-person capacity facility was a “big question”, especially since some raids were attributed to returnees touching the same lift button, Ardern said.

“So the problem has not always been the installation, but the virus it contains.”

More than 113,730 people have moved through the isolation system administered with 11 outbreaks in the community in that time.

But Wilson called it “crazy” to have the isolation facilities run in Auckland and wants specially built facilities on military bases where factors like ventilation can be controlled. His call was supported by the National Party over the weekend.

He noted that ventilation at the Pullman hotel changed from two hours a day to 24 hours after recent returnees tested positive after leaving the facility.

“How is it in the other hotels? I think everything is very problematic and we are risking the health of the team of five million.”

Wilson will meet with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment tomorrow and with the Minister of Covid-19 Response, Chris Hipkins, on Thursday and will express his concerns.

Hipkins has previously dismissed Wilson and fellow expert Michael Baker calling the outbreaks “border failures” because he said they affected worker morale.

“My request is, actually, let’s support our border workers a little bit. Let’s not label their efforts as failures or their successes as ‘by good luck.’ It’s actually hard work,” Hipkins said last Wednesday.

Wilson said the government refusing to call the outbreaks “border failures” was a “very clever communication skill.”

“It’s so smart, these deviations, because people will believe it. People like to blame people, they don’t think about blaming the system when it’s almost always a system problem. And it’s human nature to blame someone.”