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Like many of National's policies "get a Negative Covid test before flying to NZ" might sound good on the surface, but a little bit of thought reveals a terrible policy that will actually do more harm than good. A wee thread. 1/n
I'm no expert on this stuff, but if I can see a heap of issues, no doubt the experts will come up with even more. National want a clear Covid-19 test result 3 days before anyone flies back to NZ. 2/n
If you can get a test in the country where you are (remember NZ isn't testing anyone except those with symptoms) and *if* you can arrange the results to be ready 3 days before your booked flight and it's negative there is no guarantee you don't contract it in those 3 days. 3/n
So we will still be isolating and testing every arrival to NZ, and no doubt some of them will still bring Covid-19 with them. All the infrastructure and systems will still need to be in place to deal with positive cases, but we will push some of them off onto other countries. 4/n
If you are a Kiwi in say the US and you test positive, you are denied entry to NZ. You might have work commitments you miss, or worse, you test positive, but your family does not. Hard choices. Or you overstay your visa and lose future access to the US. 5/n
Side question: what happens if you are deemed to be an overstayer and the US deport you back to NZ? Will National demand a 3 day clear test before accepting you back? Who knows? 6/n
Let's say you get sick enough to require hospital care. In the US. So you and your family become bankrupt from the bills. (The leading cause of bankruptcy in the US is medical bills BTW). Meanwhile, Kiwis "lucky enough" to contract Covid-19 on the way home are fine. 7/n
There's also the matter of international law. NZ is a signatory to a UN convention on statelessness. Denying Kiwis the right to return to their own country could raise issues of international law, with some commentators already saying it would be illegal. 8/n
Then there is the Treaty of Waitangi to consider. Again, I'm no expert, but I can't imagine Māori being told they cannot return to their whenua will go down well. Presumably there would be legal processes kicking off left and right. 9/n
"Test before flying" might sound good but it will hugely impact some returning Kiwis, cause massive financial and medical hardship, while not stopping the arrival of new Covid-19 cases. It's a poorly-thought out policy National has chosen just for the political optics. 10/10
