 Pressing the newsmakers, for the honest answers, it's the Mike Husking Breakfast, with Bailey's Real Estate, all together better across residential, commercial, rural and property services. News Talks at the... Good morning to you, 757. So it turns out Michael Woodhouse had it right. The women who's tripped Wellington are seeing the government's entire quarantine strategy fall to pieces in front of our eyes, did stop, and they did meet people. And on the back of those revelations, the flood is now on of those in quarantine, not tested, not isolated, let out with no testing at all. Director-General of Health, Ashley Bloomfields back with us. Good morning. Good morning, Mike. Have you quit yet? No, I haven't quit. I just want to say I'm not planning to quit. We've worked very hard as the ministry, as people know, over the last few months to keep New Zealanders safe. I'm proud of what New Zealanders have achieved. We've had high expectations of ourselves to achieve what we have. And it's clear with the slip-up at New Auckland Quarantine that we didn't meet those expectations. I'm sorry about that. As I said yesterday, I've owned that. I've taken responsibility and in particular taken responsibility for making sure it's fixed. So we're focused on that. Why does no one in this government ever get held to account for anything? Well, I'm not part of the government, but I'm certainly putting my hand up as being responsible for making sure the system works. There was clearly a gap in the implementation of the testing in Auckland. I wasn't aware of that as soon as I became aware. We've made sure no one leaves managed isolation or quarantine for any reason unless they've had a test. And as soon as I found out about that, I made sure that was the rule and that's been applied. Why weren't you making sure it was the rule from day one? It's so simple. Well, we had our processes in place. Remembering we moved to alert level one very quickly. Clearly there was a gap in the implementation. And as I say, we made sure that that gap is now closed and it's really clear what needs to be done. Can you make it sound like it's some sort of military operation? No one leaves the building unless they test negative? Beginning, middle and end? Well, I'm not a military person, but that's what we're doing now. And that's the expectation that's been really clear. So I can provide that assurance. But it's too late. I can see what happened in this case. Well, what happened is they didn't get tested. We all know what happened. Yeah, they didn't get tested before they left. And what we're focused on now is making sure A, everyone does get tested. And B, if there was any risk that two women may have presented that that is being managed and we're very focused. Just quickly on the women themselves, do they lie to you or did you not ask enough questions? Look, they didn't lie. It's very common in these situations. Remembering they had just lost a parent. They were distraught. They were on their way down to Wellington. And that's why to be with the remaining parent, that is why our public health units do follow-up interviews. It's not uncommon for them to elicit. So you're telling me a person who's got one job during the day to go from point A to point B, when you say did you meet anybody along the way, given that's all they did that day, they can't remember whether they met anybody that day, and you trust them to say that that was the truth as opposed to a lie? Look, the information was elicited at a subsequent interview. It was while they were trying to get out of Auckland. They got lost, went the wrong way and went north instead of south. They asked for assistance from their friends. There was a very short interaction to make sure they got pointed in the right direction. And actually, the public health unit found this out on Tuesday night. Didn't tell us till yesterday afternoon after I inquired and the reason is they did not think that the interaction was material. I said anything is material and let's act decisively. So they think, is that the problem? Are you dealing with thick people? They didn't let you know. They didn't think it was important. I mean, what sort of brain powers going into that? Because they were judging that on based on... These are very experienced people based on the nature of the interaction that it did not present any risk. I said belt embraces will put these people in self-isolation and they had already been tested. We're expecting the test results today as well. On June 9, you said that people would be tested for COVID on their third and twelfth day in isolation whether they were symptomatic or not. But this is happening. Not only isn't that happening, it's voluntary. It is happening now and I've made it clear there was some question about whether they could be compelled to under the existing order. I've made it really clear that I will not deem anyone as low risk before they leave unless they have returned a negative test. So that becomes mainstream now. Absolutely. It has. Ever since, as I said, Tuesday when I found out about this and gave that instruction out to all managed isolation facilities. What about all the endless stories we're hearing in the last 24 hours where people are having parties, candles are getting blown out, groups are getting mixed, no-one's getting tested, everyone's leaving with no testing? Well, as I say, since Tuesday everyone is tested before they go. The operation of the hotels is done by Commodore Digby as was announced yesterday. Commodore Digby was announced by the Prime Minister and Mike Bush and I know their teams are looking into any complaints or any issues that arise. And look, I've also heard reports of very strict enforcement of the mixing and no-mixing and mingling. So any reports like that, we will absolutely follow up. I'll hand those over to Mike Bush. Given the stories we've heard of the birthday parties and the candles being blown out and people not getting tested and people leaving, do you have any idea of how many people have been in quarantine and have left with no tests? What we're doing actually, of course, in the case of the two women here, which are the first two positive cases that we've had for some time. Ashley, Ashley, you only have positive cases of you test. How many people have left hotels? Do you know with no test? I don't know, but I could... You don't know. We are implementing, as I said, everybody in the hotel does not leave for any reason. That's as of now. That's as of now. Up until yesterday's calamity, how many people left hotels without being tested? Look, Mike, it's not a calamity, but just let me be clear here. Ashley, come on. Can you tell me how many people left the hotels with no test? Everybody completes their 14 days' isolation. That is the mainstay of protecting our border. And do they get tested? From the 9th of June, we have been adding and testing at day three and day 12 as a belt and braces. No, you haven't. No, you haven't. You've said you have. Let me finish, Mike. Right at the start, as I said, the implementation of that, there were some gaps. I've said, I will make sure that the system is in place, that that doesn't... No one does leave unless they have been tested. But it hasn't been in place. That's the point. So the question's simple. How many people have left a hotel without being tested? I do not know that number. How on earth can you not know that number? Since two days ago, unless they've been tested, Mike, and that's what I'm taking responsibility for. So there's potentially, what, half a dozen, a dozen? 20, 30, 50, 100, all we literally don't know. Let me go back. We have had managed isolation in place for several months with people going in and undertaking 14 days of that isolation without any testing. We added the testing in. Once we moved to Alert Level 1, we moved rapidly. It didn't get implemented... Ashley, you didn't implement the testing because we've got numerous stories of people not being tested. Look, Mike, just to reiterate, it has now been fully implemented and I'm providing that assurance. And Mateem and I are very focused on making sure that happens. Let me come to the Auditor General. Why was PPE... Basically, you lied to the country. You said there was plenty of PPE and you're on a war fitting and there was no problem getting it and there was no problem with distribution. The Auditor General says that's not true. I don't think that's quite what he does say, Mike. What he says was that... Can I quote you then? You had no idea how much personal protective equipment you had, how much was needed, what was expired, how it should be distributed. His words, not mine. So our PPE was held in both national stocks and out in DHBs. As soon as COVID-19 came along, we started to look at exactly what we did have and made sure that we had enough PPE for the whole health system. We did not run out of PPE. Let me be clear. We had good supply of PPE. We had enough onshore and we got more in. Secondly, what he does say in the report is when it become apparent that the distributed way of getting this out to people was not working. The Ministry gripped it up and has sorted it out nationally and I'm proud of what we did there. We actually sorted this out and we now have a national distribution system. No national stock take since 2016? Is that true? That's right, that hadn't happened. No centralised side at all. This is a devolved health system. As soon as we realised there was an issue, this is one of the things we worked very hard on was getting that centralised and making sure that we could distribute it effectively from the centre and we did not run out and we've got very good stocks and supplies. Given all that we've just heard, you still don't feel you should quit? Look, Mike, just to reiterate, this has been a global pandemic. It continues. We've been deeply committed to keeping New Zealand safe. I'm proud of what we've achieved now and that commitment remains stronger than ever and we're doubling down our efforts to keep New Zealand safe. All right, I appreciate you, so I'm Ashley Loomfield. We're just 16 past seven.