Coronavirus: Military takes over New Zealand border checks after ‘unacceptable failure’ that allowed in two infected travellers from UK

Mistake 'should never have happened and cannot be repeated', says PM Jacinda Ardern

New Zealand’s prime minister has assigned a top military leader to oversee the nation’s border checks, after two women who had flown from London were released from quarantine before being tested for coronavirus.

Jacinda Ardern called the blunder an “unacceptable failure” and said: “It should never have happened and it cannot be repeated.”

The two arrivals, both New Zealand citizens from the same family, flew into the country to visit a dying relative and were granted an exemption to leave their mandatory 14-day quarantine early on compassionate grounds.

They then travelled in a private car from the quarantine hotel in Auckland to Wellington, where they tested positive for coronavirus.

Health officials are scrambling to trace 320 “close contacts” of the women, including passengers on their flight from the UK and other travellers who were quarantined with them at a hotel in Auckland, as well as hotel staff and flight crew. The two woman are now isolating with a relative.

Before the two new cases were announced on Tuesday, it had been more than three weeks since New Zealand reported any new infections. Ms Ardern said the new cases did not affect the country’s Covid-free status.

Air Commodore Darryn "Digby" Webb, the assistant chief of defence, has been appointed by Ms Ardern to oversee all quarantine and managed isolation facilities.

She said Air Commodore Webb will also audit the system and written protocols to ensure they are fully implemented and can utilise military resources and personnel if needed.

“There is no room for error, even if it is human error,” she said. “It is totally unacceptable that procedures we were advised were in place were not. Our job is now to fix that.”

Dr Ashley Bloomfield, New Zealand's director-general of health, told reporters on Wednesday: “I have overall system responsibility for the health operations of our self-isolation facilities and exemptions.

“In this instance, these individuals should have been tested prior to leaving the managed isolation facility. I am taking responsibility for ensuring this does not happen again.”

The policy that allows for compassionate exemptions to quarantine rules for travellers has been suspended, and Ms Ardern acknowledged that while the move might be “upsetting” to some New Zealanders, it was necessary until a “disciplined and rigorous” process could be put in place to manage them.

“I cannot allow the gains we have all made to be squandered by processes not being upheld,” she said. “It may be a hard and unpopular decision to take, but it is the right one for the country.”

The fresh cases come a little over a week after Ms Ardern announced that local transmission of the disease had been eradicated.

Additional reporting by agencies