Read on Twitter
National's new COVID policy has so much wrong with it that it shows that they do not have a clue what they are talking about. (1/n)
Many countries do not have enough testing capacity to test symptomatic people and do not give test to people just because they ask for one. (2/n)
In some countries you can buy a negative test result without ever taking a test. (3/n)
You can contract COVID after taking the test and before returning to NZ (for example on the plane). (4/n)
You can contract COVID before taking the test but too soon for the test to work. (5/n)
Test can give false results, especially if the testing regime is not carefully implemented and some countries have the resources to do this better than others. (6/n)
And what about people who have COVID and need medical evacuation to NZ for treatment? (7/n)
In other words, the policy adds trouble and expense to returning NZers but provides NZ with no effective protection from the disease reestablishing in NZ. It is impossible to implement in many instances and simply makes no sense. (8/8)
Here is a thread from @farmgeek saying some of the same things and some good additional points, in particular pointing out that the policy is arguably in breach of NZ's international law requirements and Te Tiriti. https://twitter.com/farmgeek/status/1296376430243110913?s=20
Even with tests to order available in the departure country it may still be impossible to comply. The route which most South Africa to NZ repatriations used took more than 72 hours. (10/8)
Even with faster routes sometimes available, it is an impractical expectation. Eg I saw a route to NZ from SA that only took 46 hours. That leaves 26 hours to get a test result. The turnaround time in SA private labs is advertised as 72 hours. (11/8)
