Gillian Bradshaw says the paranoia she has felt from others since returning to Napier has been very unpleasant. Photo / Paul Taylor
Gillian Bradshaw says the paranoia she has felt from others since returning to Napier has been very unpleasant. Photo / Paul Taylor
A woman cleared to leave managed isolation with a cough is upset at being called "irresponsible" by local health professionals for not self-isolating when she arrived in Napier.
However, The Doctors in Napier are standing by the advice, which they say was appropriate.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern courted controversy thisweek when she said a KFC worker linked to an outbreak should have been in self-isolation, but the worker said she was never told that she had to self-isolate.
Napier woman Gillian Bradshaw left managed isolation last month with clearance from the head of managed isolation and quarantine. She did not have Covid 19 but had a cough, a legacy of a chest infection.
On February 15, two days after exiting MIQ, she says she received a call from a Covid response nurse at The Doctors in Napier.
She says she was told she should get another test (her fifth in two weeks) immediately and self-isolate at home again.
Bradshaw says she explained she had clearance, and the cough was not Covid related. However, she says the nurse insisted she self-isolate and said not doing so was "irresponsible".
Bradshaw said the advice was an example of "unpleasant" paranoia she had experienced since returning to NZ from the UK.
She subsequently tested negative, and left self-isolation after three days.
Unless people have Covid symptoms, the Ministry of Health does not require people to self-isolate while they wait for a Covid test, or while they wait for results during Covid alert level 1 and 2.
However, The Doctors stood by their nurse's advice and said the manner in which it was given was "entirely appropriate".
Medical centre manager Dr Tony Edwards told Hawke's Bay Today that The Doctors' nurses operate under a set of rules set by the Ministry of Health.
"People with symptoms are required to self-isolate while awaiting results," he said.
"Our team has no separate guidelines for people who have left managed isolation, and they have no access to MIQ notes/plans."
He believed clarification from the ministry around what obligations people have in particular circumstances would be worthwhile, especially given attitudes around the case of the KFC worker at the centre of the current lockdown.
The Doctors medical centre in Napier says its nurse was required to act as they did under rules set by the Ministry of Health. Photo / Warren Buckland
Edwards confirmed the nurse did suggest Bradshaw had been "irresponsible".
In his reply to Bradshaw's complaint, he said: "My investigation shows the nurse acted promptly and appropriately to the situation and the advice she gave you was entirely appropriate.
"I understand you had declined to further isolate given you were only two days out of MIQ. The nurse was required to ask that you do self-isolate awaiting the further test which was duly arranged."
Bradshaw, who operates the holistic medical business Natural Clinic, had completed her 14 days in managed isolation at Rydges hotel in Auckland on February 12 after flying back from England, where she had been visiting her grandchildren.
[The nurse] just wasn't listening to me, she didn't want to hear the facts."
Bradshaw said it was another example of how quickly Hawke's Bay residents have jumped to conclusions when they hear where she has travelled.
"This paranoia that I've felt and experienced since I've been home is very unpleasant."
Edwards said one of the learnings from the case was to be "aware of how people who believe they have done the right thing might feel''.
"Rest assured our team make a deliberate attempt to remain professional and not 'buy in' to perceived sentiments."
