Todd Muller calls lack of Covid info a 'national disgrace'

It's been a week since the Ministry of Health has been unable to say how many people were granted compassionate leave without being tested, prompting National leader Todd Muller to call it a "national disgrace".

And he says a period of 37 days of no imported cases may be because people simply weren't tested before leaving isolation - meaning there could be Covid-infected people in the community.

The ministry has been repeatedly asked how many people have been granted compassionate leave without being tested, but has so far been unable to answer.

The questions were prompted last Tuesday when it was revealed that two sisters were allowed to leave managed isolation on compassionate grounds without being tested, and subsequently tested positive.

This morning Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said director general of health Ashley Bloomfield will have more to say at his 1pm press conference today.

But Muller said it was completely unacceptable that a week had passed and there were still no answers.

"The fact that even today we are in a position where neither the Prime Minister, nor [Health Minister] David Clark, nor [Minister in charge of isolation facilities] Megan Woods can look at anyone in New Zealand and say exactly how many people left quarantine or left managed isolation without being tested is a national disgrace.

"We will continue to hound this Government to be honest and transparent about the degree of failure that has occurred here. Leadership is not taking the accolades when things are going well. Leadership is making hard choices when things don't go well."

Muller added that the ministry should be asking questions about why there were no imported cases between May 10 and June 16, while there have been nine cases since then.

That may be due to a lack of testing, he suggested, and if that were the case, asymptomatic Covid-carriers could have finished their 14-day isolation period without being tested and then going out into the community.

Otago University epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker has discussed this possibility: "We would've had people who were asymptomatic, or who had flu symptoms and didn't get tested, sitting in isolation or quarantine – and they just didn't become cases because they weren't tested."

Asked if the ministry should now test everyone who had left isolation facilities without a test, Muller said: "That's a fair question ... Why wouldn't you go back and test people that were in those same facilities weeks before who have now left and who [weren't tested]?"

He repeated his comments last week that Clark should be sacked as Health Minister.

"It has been a catastrophic failure."

Muller added that returning New Zealand residents and citizens should not have to pay for their isolation, but that didn't mean a blank cheque.

"These things are never in perpetuity. There will be a point when they'll need to be reassessed."

The Government was looking into co-payments for returning Kiwis, which is being introduced in Queensland.

Ardern said she was seeking legal advice on whether it might be illegal if it essentially blocked some Kiwis from returning home.

"That is one of the issues that needs to be worked through."

She said New Zealand had the capacity to isolate Kiwis returning from overseas.

There are more than 4000 people in quarantine or managed isolation at the moment, and the number of people returning is expected to grow by up to 4 per cent every fortnight.

"We are quarantining the equivalent of a small town in New Zealand at the moment," Ardern said.

"It's a huge logistical exercise. There is no playbook for this."