Covid 19 coronavirus: Editorial: Too much left to chance in staying safe from virus

There is an inquiry into what happened at the Pullman Hotel in Auckland. Photo / Peter Meecham

Opinion

Three coronavirus cases involving people released from quarantine are collectively making the case that the authorities still haven't got the balance right at the border.

Our efforts to prevent the virus from getting into the community just aren't as good as our mop-up work after it occasionally sneaks in.

Successive tweaks have aimed to reduce the risk of returnees bringing the virus danger to New Zealand.

Once they land, our systems should be stringent enough to further minimise the likelihood of virus spread and contamination.

So far it appears New Zealand has got lucky this time. No community transmission has been uncovered and linked to the three people who became infected with the South African variant - traced to a fourth person - while all were at the Pullman Hotel MIQ facility.

Still, the incident has left a lot of people jittery.

It also follows a pattern of a breach showing that our border system is not as secure as the public expects, and the Government and Health Ministry then finding new gaps to plug.

Despite the Government's regular efforts to bolster defences, it still tends to be reactive - sometimes a step or two behind what health experts publicly advise - rather than anticipating the need for changes.

After the latest cases, all returnees are for now required to stay in their rooms after their day 12 test. Also being looked at is whether the spread and arrival of returnees and exercise rules in managed isolation need to be changed. The hotel is closed to new arrivals while an investigation is under way into how the virus spread.

This suggests insufficient anticipation of potential problems and weak points. Should it take an actual outbreak, rather than the obvious threat of one, to fix problems?

New Zealand's overall record on handling the coronavirus is the envy of much of the world. And it's due to the fact that the elimination strategy has worked so well that a few cases can carry such an outsized weight. Overseas, they would amount to a drop of water in an ocean.

The authorities have had an unenviable job shepherding more than 100,000 people through the border facilities since last March. Flawless, complete control of the border is impossible when there are so many people to deal with and an infectious disease is floating around.

We have an experienced track and trace and genomic sequencing system. We also, thankfully, have a society where most people try to co-operate for the good of others when outbreaks occur. The new emphasis on people scanning is a positive.

But that's about containment and damage control - preventing further spread once the virus has already escaped.

Can better pre-emptive protection be achieved for Kiwis in the community?

The aim should be to see any vulnerabilities and think of realistic, practical improvements to make it as hard as possible for the virus to bust out.

There's a balancing act between encouragement and requirements on the one hand and forceful restrictions and rules on the other.

Plenty of people in the Auckland and Northland regions will know someone who had a close call over this latest outbreak. Perhaps they normally shop in one of the places linked to it.

Anyone who unknowingly crosses paths with an infected person and then catches the virus has to deal with whatever happens next. That can range from having no symptoms or mild ones, to far worse outcomes.

In the aftermath of finding out they may have been exposed, they can only get tested, isolate, and hope for the best.

Once we are told about a case in the community, we can individually take precautions - stay home, or wear a mask and keep our distance if we are in crowds, and scan the QR codes of shops we go into.

A lot of us aren't conscientious about scanning with the tracer app, or are at least inconsistent about it. Many of us have got out of the habit of wearing masks when shopping if we ever got into the habit to begin with.

We rely a lot on chance to not be in the wrong place at the wrong time.