29 Jun 2020

Officials to abandon attempts to contact isolation exemptions - Dr Ashley Bloomfield

From Checkpoint, 6:08 pm on 29 June 2020

The Director-General of Health says officials will abandon attempts to contact more than 300 people, who were allowed to leave managed isolation without being tested.

Officials had to go back and check the records after the case of two women given compassionate leave, who would later test positive.

More than 2000 people left isolation in the week after June 8, the day new rules requiring two tests before leaving isolation were announced.

About half of them had not been tested and officials had been trying to track everyone down and test them.

Ashley Bloomfield said today there was a group still outstanding.

He's played down the risk these people might pose as they all went through 14 days isolation.

But he says the same expectations are on these people, as all New Zealanders, who showed such good levels of co-operation.