A STRATEGY OF TOTAL ISOLATION IS UNWORKABLE IN THE LONG RUN: ‘Unacceptable failure’: New Zealand brings in military after Covid-19 quarantine fiasco.

New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern has branded an “unacceptable failure” a quarantine blunder that meant two arrivals from Britain left managed isolation in New Zealand without being tested for the coronavirus – which they were later diagnosed with.

“It should never have happened and it cannot be repeated,” Ardern said on Wednesday, adding that the defence force would now oversee the quarantine of new arrivals and audit the quarantine process.

Ardern also said she would temporarily remove the compassionate exemption under which the pair were released from quarantine early.

Health officials are tracing 320 people who are regarded as “close contacts” of the women, and they will be urged to get tested. Close contacts could include passengers on their flight to New Zealand and other quarantined travellers at their Auckland hotel, as well as hotel staff and flight crew. The women were now in isolation with a relative, officials said.

You can keep sticking your finger in the dike, but even as an island nation, sooner or later you will fail unless either the disease fades out or you have a highly effective vaccine.