This is possibly the 7th case of community transmission since the August Auckland cluster. I’m hugely grateful for all work done but this is concerning. We don’t have too many holes in the cheese slices in the community to think we can keep avoiding an outbreak at this rate. /1 https://twitter.com/marcdaalder/status/1325233077656805378

We don’t have widespread use of masking on public transport despite this being recommended, we have lax use of QR scanning, our daily testing numbers (while higher than before Auckland outbreak) can still lower to the 2000s/3000s over weekends. Low QR scanning means that /2

Every time a new community COVID-19 case is traced, we have to resort to public appeals via the media for casual contacts to be notified. As the pandemic is still increasing overseas, and with what appear to be more frequent border transmissions since August, it’s still not /3

Clear (to ordinary public) what is being done to improve procedures other than reassurance of investigations after each event. Once again - I’m extremely grateful for all the work the MIQ and infection control team are doing and certainly it is working well 99% of the time, /4

But I’m starting to want to know what other countries who are containing the virus well are doing at their border. Is there data on what rate of transmission is seen in NSW MIQ for instance? And how do we compare? What can we learn from better responses? These are pressing /5

Questions. Before the Auckland outbreak, it was reported and known that community testing was very low, and yet we seemed to walk with eyes wide open into a regional lockdown. Any further outbreaks reduce confidence in our winning strategy, and fuel anti-lockdown sentiment /6

Thankful for the experts working on our response day and night, and for all our MIQ workers. Let’s keep improving but also ask the hard questions. As for me - make things mandatory if you need to @chrishipkins, it’s no skin off my back. No one wants another outbreak.

Addendum! I should clarify first tweet in this thread - this is I think the 7th case of community transmission *at the border*. Based on @dchengnz count in this Herald piece: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/covid-19-coronavirus-border-failure-the-point-of-infection-prevention-is-to-prevent-infection/7SYCEYRVKXG3SJWQJGDWX7GNBE/

Addendum 2! Okay, I need to be more pedantic. The new community case today is a *close contact* of the MIQ worker reported Friday; the new case had a work meeting with the MIQ worker, but is not themselves an MIQ worker. Maybe it shouldn’t be called a “border” transmission then.