Newshub reports on the latest covid escapee.
A third person has escaped managed isolation.
The man in his 50s escaped from the Distinction Hotel in Hamilton on Thursday.
Shock, horror /sarc.
On Friday afternoon Minister of Health Chris Hipkins confirmed the man climbed down a fire escape and cut through the fence ties to escape.
“I have been advised there was a police officer on site at the time. These are not high security prisons, there is not a cordon around them – they are hotels,” said Hipkins.
[…]Police and health authorities are scouring CCTV footage to establish who may have been in contact with the man while he wandered the streets of Hamilton. One liquor store on Te Rapa Road was closed for cleaning as police believe the man entered.
Hipkins thanked the owner of the store for his cooperation, saying it will help keep New Zealand safe.
[…]The man reportedly bought a four-pack of Leffe Blonde and a bottle of pinot noir. NZME reports he paid in cash, resulting in all of the money in the liquor store register needing to be cleaned on Friday morning.
[…]The man’s escape is the third in just over a week. On Saturday 4 July a woman scaled two fences to escape from Auckland’s Pullman Hotel and was out of isolation for more than an hour.
On Tuesday a 32-year-old man snuck through a gap in the Stamford Plaza fencing and visited an inner city supermarket.
The following day he tested positive for COVID-19.
All three escapees will face charges.
As a result of the breaches in security the Minister in charge of managed isolation, Megan Woods, announced on Thursday all isolation facilities will have a 24/7 police presence to keep people inside and stop the spread of COVID-19.
It didn’t work in this case though did it? Unless the government is willing to put all people coming into the country into locked isolation, community transmission of COVID-19 is inevitable. And assuming the government knows this, the government is basically betting that a vaccine will come out before that happens.
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