Health director-general Dr Ashley Bloomfield says the two women found yesterday to have Covid-19 should have been tested before they left their managed isolation facility in Auckland.
The two had been granted leave to drive to Wellington for a funeral on compassionate grounds.
Dr Bloomfield says he has overall system responsibility for the health operations of the self-isolation facilities and exemptions.
"In this instance, these individuals should have been tested prior to leaving the managed isolation facility.
"I am taking responsibility for ensuring this does not happen again.
"We have always expected that New Zealand would get more cases of COVID-19, especially with more people from overseas coming into the country," he says."COVID-19 remains a serious pandemic continuing to affect many countries. We are not immune to further cases arriving on our shores.
"The risk of spread of COVID-19 from these two cases while they were travelling to New Zealand and in the managed isolation facility they were in is low but not impossible, so we are ensuring all steps are in place to mitigate the risk.
The health ministry has taken some actions to provide the public and government assurance that anyone arriving into New Zealand does not pose any risk from COVID-19."
Actions taken include:
· ensuring that no one leaves a managed isolation facility without having had a negative COVID-19 test including those on compassionate grounds; and
· ensuring all people in isolation are tested on days 3 and 12.
Cases and tracing
The two people reported as confirmed cases yesterday remain in self-isolation and are doing well.
There is one family member isolating with them who is being monitored daily by the local public health unit. The Ministry of Health is managing wider contact tracing from the National Contact Tracing unit.
"We are treating anyone on the flight or in the facility at the same time as the cases as if they are close contacts who have potentially been exposed. We are getting them all tested and isolated until a negative result is received."
"We are getting them all tested and isolated until a negative result is received. At this point, there are 320 identified close contacts. The majority of these will have been contacted by the end of the day. All of these people will be encouraged to get a test."
Dr Bloomfield says he is confident there was no contact made with anyone on the journey between Auckland and Wellington. He says the two women remain in self-isolation and are doing well.
"There is one family member isolating with them who is being monitored daily by the local public health unit. The Ministry of Health is managing wider contact tracing from the National Contact Tracing unit."
Today there have been no new cases of COVID-19.