Work is already underway to beef up New Zealand's managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) facilities after a review into Covid-19 transmission at two Auckland facilities - the Grand Millennium and Grand Mercure - found improvements were needed.
The internal review by the Ministry of Health and MIQ comes after three MIQ workers tested positive for Covid-19 at the Grand Millennium in March. Among the staff was a security worker who was found not to have been tested for months.
The report was not able to conclude with certainty how transmission occurred, but noted the most likely mode of transmission to Case A from the index case was by aerosol transmission in a hallway, then between Case B and Case C by direct exposure from two workers on the same shift.
The review made six recommendations, including improving barriers to staff testing and vaccination and continuing to improve data management systems following the revelation that Case B had not been tested for a number of months
Recommendations released today also include continuing to improve the systems, procedures and policies around IPC (infection prevention and control) practice, continuing to improve and standardise staff inductions and pre-deployment training across all groups of workers, continuing to address the stigma border workers face as a result of working in a MIQ facility, and streamlining communication channels between agencies.
It comes after an internal review into the spread of Covid-19 at two Auckland facilities earlier this year. (Source: Other)
The same review also looked into what improvements could be made at the Grand Mercure following two separate incidents.
In the first incident, two positive returnee cases were genomically linked, strongly indicating that transmission occurred within the managed isolation facility.
The second incident involved a breach in bus protocols when a Covid-positive returnee was permitted onto a bus ride to a managed isolation walk. This resulted in 14 other returnees on the bus being considered close contacts and having to stay another 14 days in managed isolation, however, no community transmission occurred as part of this breach.
Today's review found further improvements could be made to the MIQ system to reduce the likelihood of cases occurring via the ventilation system.
Recommendations also included mitigating the risk of onwards transmission of infection from close contacts of positive Covid-19 cases, improving processes for managing symptomatic returnees, and improving the protocols of specifically the bus transport.
In a statement today, joint Head of Managed Isolation and Quarantine Brigadier Jim Bliss said action was "well-underway" to improve New Zealand's MIQ system.
"The MIQ system is something that continually evolves and changes – which reflects the changing nature of the Covid-19 virus," Bliss said.
"As part of our commitment to continuous improvement we review incidents to ensure we capture any learnings and make any necessary changes."
Following the incidents, both MIQ facilities were emptied and the ventilation at both sites was assessed. They both remain unoccupied.
"I want to reassure the New Zealand public that the overall risks to returnees of contracting Covid-19 within one of our managed isolation or quarantine facilities and taking it into the community has been, and continues to be, assessed by public health experts as very low," Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said in a statement today.
"We have multiple layers of defence at our border and inside MIQ that work together to create barriers and safeguards that protect returnees, border workers and the wider community.
"The reviewers themselves noted that, whilst the reviews focused on outlining necessary improvements as a result of the incidents, it is in fact the success of the wider MIQ system that has been integral to the nation’s success in keeping Covid-19 largely out of our communities."
More than 140,000 people have returned to New Zealand and stayed in an MIQ facility.
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