Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on the new Covid-19 cases.
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Police Minister Stuart Nash has hit out at officials after two women who left quarantine on compassionate grounds and travelled to Wellington tested positive for Covid-19.
Nash fired up over the blunder, saying he believes that someone needed to be held to account after the two women flew in from the UK, were allowed out of isolation in an Auckland hotel early, and made a road-trip to Wellington.
Speaking to Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking, Nash described the incident as "unforgivable", "unacceptable ineptitude".
He says the slip up is a kick in the guts to Kiwis who did it "real tough".
"I cannot repeat the words on your show that I said when I heard what had happened," Nash told Hosking, using language far stronger than Health Minister David Clark and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
"Someone does need to be held to account. We need to have a review of what's happening in quarantine because it's totally unacceptable when five million Kiwis do it real tough.
"We eliminate this stuff, we have rugby games full of people, and then you get this sort of ineptitude, man it is unforgivable. As David said, he's cancelled compassionate dispensation and there's a review of the system. Let's make sure it doesn't happen again."
Ardern and Clark have admitted system failures, admitting that they have been let down.
But Nash went further, saying he was baffled anyone was allowed to leave without a negative test, and said the two women also let the country down.
"I would have thought we'd have the systems in place and all ready to go. You come here as a Kiwi, you quarantine for 14 days. You don't leave until you test negative.
Police Minister Stuart Nash has hit out at officials after two women who left quarantine on compassionate grounds and travelled to Wellington tested positive for Covid-19. Photo / File
"There was a compassionate grounds in place ... but I would have thought you don't leave until you test negative.
"Somehow the system failed and we have to sort that out. As mentioned, it's unconscionable after five million Kiwis did it so hard.
"Our protocols were broken by a couple of people who let us down."
"The Government lead this response. Jacinda was up there every single day informing Kiwis how we were going and what we need to do.
"The thing that Jacinda did so well is bought into the rationale of what we were doing. You've got to give credit to the Prime Minister for her ability to communicate."
National Party and opposition leader Todd Muller has echoed Nash's disappointment, taking aim at the Government over the latest Covid incident.
Muller told Morning Report the stakes were too high for the rules not to be followed.
"I'm as furious, as I suspect most New Zealanders this morning.
"This is clumsy and totally inappropriate when you consider what's at stake here ... we've spent a number of months locking our country down, we've got ourselves to the point where we're Covid-free, we have systems in place that we expect to be followed and they simply weren't.
