Fix the MIQ system

Newshub reports:

The Prime Minister says she’s surprised to hear the story of a sick 11-year-old and his family being declined emergency managed isolation (MIQ) spots.

It comes after a Newshub report about 11-year-old Maddox Preston, who flew to the US city of Houston with his family six weeks ago for potentially lifesaving treatment. Maddox was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumour when he was 9-years-old and it kept coming back, despite four brain surgeries and two rounds of chemo in New Zealand.

But father Chad Preston said they’ve been unable to get an emergency spot in MIQ to return from overseas, despite their application being bolstered by Starship Hospital and US doctors.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who last week was sent an open letter on behalf of almost 2000 Kiwis abroad calling for immediate and urgent changes to the MIQ system, was asked about the Prestons’ case during an interview with The AM Show on Monday.

The system is broken. The PM should not be surprised by stories like this.