All COVID-19 managed isolation and quarantine facilities established for overseas arrivals will be inspected by the Chief Ombudsman following the confirmation of two new cases on Tuesday.
Ombudsman Peter Boshier announced his new inspection programme while appearing before Parliament’s Governance and Administration Committee on Wednesday morning, a statement issued by the Ombudsman's office confirmed.
All returning New Zealanders must complete a mandatory 14-day isolation period upon arrival as part of the Government's ongoing border controls to keep COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel strain of coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, out of New Zealand.
It's understood there are currently around 3500 returned New Zealanders housed in managed isolation or quarantine facilities - however, thousands more have completed their 14 days since the measure was introduced on April 9.
"As these are places of detention which fall within my designation, I am setting up a new inspection programme to independently monitor and report on them. The public needs to be assured that people who are being isolated for health reasons are being treated fairly and their basic human rights are being respected," Boshier said in a statement.
"People may be staying in hotels but they are not actual guests. People in quarantine can't leave their rooms and those in managed isolation are not allowed to leave the premises without permission of health officials. Even then, their outside activities are closely supervised.
"I am conducting these inspections under OPCAT (the United Nations Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture), where I inspect places of detention to help ensure people are treated humanely."
A small team will carry out inspections focused on specific COVID-19 criteria, including the policies in place to manage any suspected cases; people's access to fresh air and exercise; and people's ability to maintain a physical distance (2m) from others such as hotel patrons and staff.
The investigations are likely to be conducted in a similar fashion to the inspections recently carried out in prisons, mental health facilities and aged-care facilities.
The inspections are due to begin in July. All managed isolation and quarantine facilities - a number of which are hotels - will be notified in advance.
The team will be clad in the appropriate protective equipment and will closely observe the Ministry of Health's public health measures and safety guidelines.
New Zealand no longer 'COVID-free'
The confirmation of two new infections on Tuesday came after weeks of no new cases, with the country moving into alert level 1 - close to pre-COVID normality - last Monday.
The Ministry of Health revealed the two new cases are women from the same family who arrived from the UK, via Doha and Brisbane, on June 7. The two were placed into managed isolation at the Novotel hotel in Auckland, but travelled to Wellington for a funeral on June 13 after being granted an exemption on compassionate grounds.
The ministry says the women travelled in a private vehicle and had no contact with others on the journey. One close contact - a relative the women stayed with in the capital - has been identified, tested and is in self-isolation. The women returned their positive results after being tested on Monday.
Other potential contacts include those who flew on from Brisbane to Auckland on June 7 and those who were housed in the same managed isolation facility.
Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield admitted one of the women was exhibiting "mild symptoms" on the day they travelled to the capital, while the other was symptom-free.
"There was an agreed plan in place as part of the approval for compassionate exemption - that included for the travel arrangements," Dr Bloomfield said.
"We know there are people continuing to come to New Zealand - these are Kiwis who are returning from countries where there is active community spread of COVID-19 - and that is why we have the requirement of managed isolation at the border."
