How to beef up the border

• Published date: 31 March 2021
• Date: 31 March 2021
• Author: Jamie Morton

In a blog post published yesterday, a team of Otago University researchers argued New Zealand still didn’t have optimal control of its borders against Covid-19, and set out five ways to combat further leaks — including offering vaccinations to arriving travellers.

Their analysis found that, since last July, there had been 13 identified border failures, along with six failures that had occurred within managed isolation and quarantine facilities.

The largest resulted in the Auckland August cluster, involving 179 cases and three deaths — and was one of two failures that forced the city into lockdown on three occasions.

They cited official estimates that put the daily cost of Auckland lockdowns at up to $75 million in GDP, and...