51 of 55 early releases not tested

The Herald reports:

Late last night, the Ministry of Health said 51 of the 55 people granted early leave between June 9 and 16 had not been tested before they left managed isolation.

It had taken more than a week for that question to be answered because an integrated IT system did not exist – but is now being built – and health officials had to match name and date of birth details from their systems with information held at isolation facilities.

The 55 people represent the highest risk because they didn’t complete 14 days of managed isolation before being in the community, and the prerequisite of a negative test before leaving was not observed.

Of the 55, four were tested before leaving managed isolation, and two of the four were tested the day they left, meaning the results were unlikely to have been known when they left.

So basically only two of the 55 released early were known to be safe. Even for this Government, that is a new level of incompetence.