Covid 19 coronavirus: what next to quarantine travelers in controlled isolation?

Ninety-seven percent of staff working in managed isolation facilities and quarantine hotels were tested last week, and no one tested positive for Covid-19.

The next round of MIQ testing is currently underway, said Minister for Managed Isolation and Quarantine, Megan Woods, and will be completed on September 6.

Regular testing of border workers would begin in weeks.

The Government has hired Sir Brian Roche and Heather Simpson to ensure that the test strategy is being implemented correctly, after the response from the Ministry of Health was too slow.

Testing these workers is considered an additional layer of defense, as it could uncover an undetected branch of Covid-19 transmission ahead of time.

It comes after the Ministry of Health revealed today 14 new cases of Covid, nine of which are in managed isolation and five in the community.

Air Commodore Darryn Webb said a new positive case in Wellington flew in from Los Angeles, and the facility in Wellington was also set up to quarantine Covid-positive people.

Woods said travelers take a chartered flight to Wellington, so they don’t mix with the general public.

Webb said that sometimes people fly to Auckland and then fly to another location where they are then tested.

Woods said the government was studying how to open the border further and who to prioritize. It was an active work program with ministers.

The Auckland group and the Rydges maintenance worker

Woods said the current group does not appear to have come from an MIQ facility, based on genomic sequencing results so far.

She said the Rydges maintenance worker’s case had been closed and that she most likely found out that Covid-19 was using the elevator at the hotel shortly after a positive Covid case used it.

Webb said cleaning protocols have been improved to make the facility as safe as possible.

“Hand sanitizer is a critical requirement and is used every time someone uses an elevator.”

Woods said there was a two-minute gap between them using the elevator.

Quarantine capacity

Woods said that when he assumed responsibility for MIQ, capacity was at the limit and people were moved to different cities in the middle of their period of isolation.

But the ability now had room to breathe and that was no longer happening.

The origin of the current outbreak has not been determined, but it is believed to have arrived via travelers at the border, as it is unlikely to originate from cargo surfaces.

Woods said the MIQ allocation system, which ensures there is a spot in a hotel before people can buy a flight home, was being rolled out and expected in the coming weeks.

He had no details on how many people have had to pay for a stay at MIQ so far.

Having a specially designed facility for MIQ was something the government had considered from the beginning of the response, Woods said.

“What we have to do is see how that adds up in terms of construction cost and running cost compared to hotel rentals right now.”

Day three tests

When asked why the third day tests weren’t mandatory, he said “we are ready to evolve” and that it could be changed if health officials deemed it necessary.

He said making it mandatory would be “more important” if there had been any transmission from an MIQ facility, of which there has been no evidence.

From July 18 to August 24, 97 percent of the people were tested on the 12th and 95 percent of the people were tested on the third.

Woods said there were a number of reasons why the third day tests were not completed, even if they were a child under the age of six months, refused tests or for medical reasons.

He said the tests on the third day weren’t mandatory, but were being done in “large numbers anyway.”

So far, 15 people have refused a test on the 12th. All ultimately decided to get tested, Woods said.

Webb said 108 of an additional 500 Defense Forces personnel were already on site, with more to be deployed weekly.

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There were 5,018 people housed in 32 managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) facilities across the country as of midnight last night.

Woods has also announced that all workers at the MIQ facility will test the CovidCard, which records other contacts that carry CovidCard in close proximity.

This could also help to quickly reduce an outbreak if a new outbreak were started by a traveler carrying Covid-19 arriving in New Zealand.

This morning, Trade Me founder Sam Morgan said that his CovidCard team had disbanded.

“The CovidCard team, the people from the private sector, have pulled out of any involvement because we don’t see any path to success in the way this is being done,” Morgan told the Herald.

He said the team had sent hundreds of pages of technical information to the Health Ministry after Nelson’s trial in May and was ready to help.

But nothing happened, and Morgan has been frustrated in the months since.

“There is no capacity or commitment within the Ministry of Health to do so,” he added.

“In fact, there is active resistance and has been since we started.”

A ministry spokesperson told the Herald: “The CovidCard test is in the middle of the design phase. We expect to complete the test by the end of September, with a report to Cabinet by the end of October.

“The Rotorua test will help us determine if the CovidCard works in a real world setting and will also allow us to test public opinion.

“We hope that before the end of the year a decision will be made on whether to implement CovidCard more broadly.”

Morgan, who sees CovidCard replacing an app and has 80 percent more adoption for effectiveness reasons, responded: “There is no chance that they will be able to offer even a trial within the set time frame.”

He added: “Implementation in managed isolation facilities might still be possible because the Ministry of Health is not involved, that is being kicked out of MBIE under Minister Megan Woods.”

Woods said the CovidCard trial for MIQ workers and returnees abroad was still being worked out.

That trial was going to start in three to four weeks, Webb said.

Woods added that they were exploring the use of CovidCards in places like elevators to provide more information on who might have been in an MIQ facility.