Two sisters battling to get out of mandatory quarantine early to see their dying mother have had their appeal denied.
File photo. Photo: RNZ / Matthew Theunissen
The pair flew from Melbourne 11 days ago now but are being kept in isolation in Auckland.
They received a response late this afternoon from the Health Ministry denying their request for an exemption on compassionate grounds.
The ministry's national coordinator of the health coordination centre said it reviewed all the information provided by them but had to unfortunately deny the request.
It went on to say that minimising virus spread is critical.
The sisters' case was raised at today's news conference and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said it was a distressing situation.
But Ardern said, while the numbers are small, there are still Covid-19 cases arriving from overseas.
"We have to make sure that in allowing and enabling people to see family members they're desperate to see, we don't have double tragedy."
The Director General of Health Ashley Bloomfield told the new conference that exceptions to quarantine exist in very limited circumstances.
"Where there is a family member dying, we take a compassionate look at that, but we have to weigh that up against the overall approach to protect all New Zealanders."
He said that he has asked the team to revisit the issue as the country moves toward level 2 and what could be put in place to manage the risk.
One of the sisters, Joanne, said they have been in isolation in Melbourne since mid-March, have been in isolation in New Zealand for 11 days now, offered to take Covid-19 tests and to wear protective gear.
In a statement, the Ministry of Health said it acknowledged that our current border requirements can be very distressing for people returning to New Zealand and that it has sympathy for this family's situation.
"We have consistently taken a precautionary approach to Covid-19 and our border measures are there to protect all New Zealanders from the virus."
"Exemptions are only granted under extremely limited circumstances," it said.
"Anybody who has been on an international flight has been exposed to other travellers who may have had exposure to Covid-19, and this is one of the risks that we are trying to protect New Zealand against."
- If you have symptoms of the coronavirus, call the NZ Covid-19 Healthline on 0800 358 5453 (+64 9 358 5453 for international SIMs) or call your GP