New Zealand has ended its streak of being free from coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as it confirms two new cases after 24 days, involving women who arrived from UK.
According to health officials, the two were approved to be released from mandatory quarantine before being tested so they can visit a dying parent. They were permitted to drive from Auckland to Wellington.
New Zealand’s director-general of health Ashley Bloomfield said that the women did every safety measure in place and had not put other people at risk, adding that they made the eight-hour trip without refueling their car, as well as even stopping to use public toilets. He assured that “they had no contact with anybody else during that trip.”
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The new cases, however, has forced the government to suspend granting compassionate exemptions to its quarantine regulations, with officials noting that moving forward, no one would be allowed to leave quarantine facilities without a negative COVID-19 test.
“It will only be reinstated once the government has confidence in the system,” said health minister David Clark.
Bloomfield said that the women had arrived in Auckland from UK via Brisbane, Australia on June 7. People on their flight, including cabin crew as well as staff and guests at the Novotel Ellerslie hotel in Auckland – where they were initially in quarantine – are now being tested and isolated.
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