PM Jacinda Ardern thanked the Greens and New Zealand First – which chose Labour over National to be a partner in Government. National leader Judith Collins was less gentle. She said that Ardern was about to join Bill Rowling as a one-term Prime Minister.
People would not be escaping quarantine and managed isolation if National was in charge, leader Judith Collins says.
Collins told Newstalk ZB's Kate Hawkesby this morning she had "zero tolerance" for coronavirus, and that Covid-19 "simply would not be allowed in" under her party's watch.
The comments come after href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12354081" target="_blank">new research revealed 68 per cent of people thought New Zealand's border should remain closed to non-residents.
About 29 per cent surveyed in the Herald-Kantar Vote 2020 poll thought the ban could be relaxed to allow in non-New Zealand residents and citizens, so long as they quarantined for two weeks and paid for it.
Collins this morning said she was not surprised by the figures, and that there was low confidence in the Government's ability to contain people in managed isolation and quarantine.
"There's a lot of fear about Covid-19 coming across the border," she said. "I think every time someone escapes from quarantine it just makes people even more nervous."
Yesterday a woman who scaled a 1.5m wall to escape a Covid-19 quarantine hotel was given a deferred sentence, and last night a woman was caught trying to break into a managed isolation hotel in Rotorua.
"New Zealanders have been so worked up into fear of being able to actually bring people into the country safely," Collins said.
"I don't think anyone really thinks that the Government knows how to keep people safely in quarantine without getting the odd one just sort of pop up."
But as the borders stay shut, New Zealand misses out on money from high end tourism, skilled workers, and international students, she said.
"We need absolute confidence in the Government to run that border . . . if we're in charge, there wouldn't be people escaping from quarantine.
National Party leader Judith Collins made the comments on Newstalk ZB this morning. File photo / Mark Mitchell
"I have zero tolerance for Covid-19 coming to this country . . . it is simply not allowed in while there is no vaccine."
There have no been any escapes from quarantine under the Government's watch. All escapes have been from managed isolation facilities.
Collins said she could understand why people were nervous, and felt Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was "encouraging" fear with talk of masks and second waves of the virus.
Bloomfield said the health ministry had been sounding the warning about the prospect of community transmission in recent weeks and was now gearing up for the likely prospect.
It's been more than three months since the last case of Covid-19 was contracted in the community. In the past 95 days all Covid infections have been detected and contained at the border as ill people return to New Zealand.
The Government this week relaunched a campaign to raise community awareness of Covid-19, instructing people to "be ready" and take a test when they were given the opportunity.
"This is a tricky virus and we just have to be very vigilant," Bloomfield told Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking Show.
"Part of that is doing testing in the community to detect any infection that might get through as quickly as possible."
