A Kiwi son who rushed home to be with his terminally ill father says ongoing attempts to be granted to see him while he was stuck in a managed isolation facility were rejected and bordered on callous.
Chris O'Leary left his wife and two children in Canada two weeks ago to fly home after his 87-year-old father was diagnosed with lymphoma, a bone marrow cancer, and the prognosis is grim.
He also wanted to be in New Zealand to support his mother.
However the Government says it still considers each application on a case-by-case basis despite tightening up its rules around granting exemptions after two UK women who later tested positive for the virus were allowed to drive from Auckland to Wellington after being given leave on compassionate grounds.
Since August 1 nine applications have been approved for exemption from managed isolation facilities for exceptional circumstances and 140 declined.
But the New Zealander has been left feeling angry and frustrated by what he claims is a draconian and blanket approach to rejecting exemptions and said the Government needed to start looking at them on a case-by-case basis.
The 38-year-old building contractor sent his first isolation exemption application at Vancouver Airport on August 9, including a letter from his father's doctor requesting exemption, only to be told two days later to fill in a form with the same information.
He was bused to Auckland's Crowne Plaza on August 10 to self-isolate and a day later the exemption was refused.
"It was just generic bulls*** with sorry to hear about your father in the middle of it. That was my whole issue - there were no grounds, no empathy ... They won't clear anyone and they didn't care about my case."
O'Leary then spoke to Ministry of Health staff based at the hotel who referred him to the counselling number which didn't work from his international mobile or the hotel's phone.
Stressed and upset when his father's body reacted badly to chemotherapy and was too weak to speak to him on the phone, he appealed to them again.
"I told the MoH rep my case number and they didn't follow up for me or anything."
He also told the three different MoH people who called him during the duration of his two-week stay of his anguish.
On August 15, he wrote to the Ombudsman. In a reply dated August 23, the investigator said the grounds for exemption had to be "exceptional".
He said exemptions to visit a terminally ill loved one whose doctors have said may die very soon had been granted to allow a short visit in full PPE, but still required the person to return to the managed isolation facility after the visit to complete their 14-day period.
O'Leary said despite trying for two weeks, that was the first time he had heard of the option.
"My overarching feeling was they just didn't care about individual situations and they were just going to say no to everyone ... I even asked at what point what is a decent situation to get out if mine isn't a reasonable request."
He left isolation on Monday after returning a second negative Covid-19 test and planned to spend two weeks in Auckland with his father whose condition has improved slightly before returning to Canada to his young family.
A Managed Isolation and Quarantine spokesperson denied there was a blanket policy and said the exemption system allowed them to consider people's very difficult personal circumstances and balance that with protecting New Zealanders from Covid-19.
"Applications for releases from managed isolation are considered on a case-by-case basis and the distressing and heart-breaking situations facing some of the people who apply are not ignored. However, exemptions are approved only where we can be confident that the risk of transmission is mitigated."
The high majority of exemptions were declined because like O'Leary's application the risk was deemed too high, the spokesperson said.
UK couple whose dad died while they were in isolation say it was still a positive experience
A UK couple who rushed to New Zealand to see their dying relative for the last time have no complaints about the country's strict isolation policy despite their father taking his last breath before they could see him.
Jacky Fawcett and her husband Giles arrived in New Zealand on July 10 after learning Giles' 85-year-old dad had been given a terminal diagnosis.
They applied for a critical travel visa as well as an exemption from managed isolation so they could spend time with their father and support family who were caring for them.
Giles' father died about 10 days into their 14 day stay in managed isolation at Jet Park in Hamilton before they were able to see him.
But Jacky, 51, said they had felt helpless being so far away in the UK and had no regrets about coming over.
They arrived not long after the Government had tightened its exemption rules so had taken a pragmatic approach and respected the measures in place.
They had still not heard about their exemption application when their dad died on July 20 so notified the Government to let them know they know longer needed it and also told staff at the hotel.
"They were all very considerate and kind and security made a point of coming up and giving their condolences which was very supportive."
Jacky, a retired nurse, said they couldn't thank the staff enough for all they did and making their experience a positive one.
After completing their two weeks in quarantine, they stayed with Giles' sister in Thames where they were able to support each other and help plan the funeral.
After six weeks in New Zealand, the couple returned home this week.
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The woman was shaken by the incident.