Weddings and other celebrations were cancelled or postponed and even women in labour sometimes had to give birth on their own. Now people in Auckland are going through it again, at level 3 as a new community cluster continues to grow.
What our team of five million achieved over the first lockdown has been lauded internationally but that is now being threatened because managed isolation has been plagued with problems.
People have broken into managed isolation and broken out of managed isolation.
A quarantine facility maintenance worker at Rydges contracted the disease and it is possible he did after using a lift an infected person in isolation had used minutes earlier.
If true, this beggars belief. The sick woman left her room and was touching things that other people could then touch? Seriously?
It is also alarming the Government was incorrectly reassured by the Ministry of Health that border staff were tested regularly for the virus.
The Government has moved to tighten things up. It is rolling out new thermal CCTV technology that triggers an alarm if people in quarantine facilities try to break out.
It is also proposing to add where feasible: CCTV in public and exercise areas to monitor distance breaches; CCTV in accommodation corridors to monitor any breaches between rooms; security control room/desk; audible alarms on fire exits; electronic access systems to restrict or track movement around a facility.
An extra 500 Defence Force personnel will also be sent to managed isolation facilities to roll out the testing of staff quicker.
The Government is also hiring security guards, which will make it less reliant on private security guards.
That will bring the total Defence Force personnel supporting the Covid-19 response to around 1200 – the largest military contingent since East Timor.
These measures are needed but why were they not introduced in the first place to safeguard our lockdown efforts the first time round and protect us all?
Enough is enough. It is time to clean up this isolation mess once and for all.
