The Indian Weekender, Friday 21 August 2020

4 NEW ZEALAND
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Friday, August 21, 2020
The Indian Weekender
Govt brings in 500 more defence personnel
to strengthen border management
SANDEEP SINGH
The government has moved-in another
500 personnel of the defence forces to
coordinate what is being described as
“multi-agency tasks” required to speed up the
testing at the managed quarantine facilities.
The decision was announced by Prime
Minister Jacinda Ardern on Wednesday, August
19, public health briefing.
Revealing more details about the nature of
the new deployment a press release from, the
office of Minister of Managed Isolation and
Quarantine (MIQ), Megan Woods further said,
“It is important we do all we can to strengthen
the layers of security systems in our facilities.
“This boost in defence force personnel
will be progressively rolled out over the next
six weeks and will see the number in each
managed isolation and quarantine facility
increase from around 4 people to 19 people, and
also see around 80 extra personnel stationed
at the maritime border to assist Customs,” Dr
Woods said.
Currently, there are 32 managed isolation
and quarantine facilities.
Notably, recently the government has
come under increased pressure for its alleged
shambolic management of quarantine
facilities at the border and
"While
the current
community cluster
has not been sourced to
a managed isolation and
quarantine facility, nothing
is fail-safe and strengthening
security is a
step we believe is
useful."
being inconclusively
linked to the reemergence
of the
second wave of the
Covid-19 in the
country.
Minister of Health
Chris Hipkins had earlier
accepted a damning media
report revealing that almost
60 per cent of frontline border staffs have
not been tested, despite the government’s
earlier expectations for rigorous testing of
everyone involved in border management.
Since then the government has taken a
number of steps to bolster border management,
including rigorous testing.
Minister Woods has however strongly
rejected the allegation that the second wave
of Covid-19 in the country can be linked with
shambolic border management.
“While the current community cluster has
not been sourced to a managed isolation and
quarantine facility, nothing is fail-safe and
strengthening security is a step we believe is
useful,” Megan Woods said.
Thirty staff will deploy to Auckland this
Thursday to staff the first two MIQ facilities.
Currently, there are around 1200 Defence
Force personnel supporting the Covid-19
response, with 990 at Managed Isolation
Facilities and 70 in Police traffic management
services.
National promises to
create a special border
agency as a safeguard
against Covid-19
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SANDEEP SINGH
The National Party has released a
border safety plan against Covid-19
virus promising to create a dedicated
border agency in the first 100 days of coming
into government and regular testing of
frontline staff.
In a press release on Thursday, August
20, the National Party has avowed to put the
responsibility on future international travellers
to provide evidence of a negative Covid-19 test
before arriving in New Zealand.
“The threat of Covid-19 will be with us for
years to come and National is committed to
safeguarding the health of all New Zealanders,
as well as the wider economy,” Judith
Collins said.
The party had also avowed to bring
comprehensive oversight in day to day
operations of the border security management
along with a promise to use compulsory contact
tracing technologies by agency employees,
border facility workers, and District Health
Board staff who treat or test patients.
Judith Collins has criticised the government
for its alleged ineptitude in border security
management.
“The current ad-hoc system of managing
Covid-19 at our border – putting various
agencies in charge of different facets – has led
to a disorderly and confused response, putting
the health and livelihoods of five million New
Zealanders at risk,” Ms Collins says.
“More than 1.6 million Aucklanders
are locked down right now because the
Government dropped the ball on testing, tracing
"The current
ad-hoc system
of managing Covid-19
at our border – putting
various agencies in
charge of different facets
– has led to a disorderly
and confused response,
putting the health and
livelihoods of five million
New Zealanders at risk
and managing people in isolation. It’s not good
enough,” Collins said.
National’s Health spokesperson Dr Shane
Reti said that the Party recognises the need to
also prepare a second line of defence, behind
our border, so any incursions can be identified,
traced and isolated quickly.
“The first line of defence must be strong
border management, but a high-quality contact
tracing system is a vital second line.
“With strong contact tracing systems and
a more sophisticated testing and compliance
structure we can minimise the impact of further
incursions and protect those vulnerable to
the disease.”
National will follow international models
and require people coming into the country to
not only quarantine but also test themselves
for Covid-19 three days before departure, and
provide the results of that test to airline staff
before boarding their plane, Dr Reti says.