‘It’s crazy’ that unvaccinated can fly out of level 3

Leading health experts say it is unbelievable people who have not been vaccinated can still travel outside Auckland for any reason.

It follows the news that an unvaccinated traveller from Auckland tested positive for Covid-19 after reaching Christchurch, despite having tested negative before they boarded the flight.

‘‘People should be doubly vaccinated before they can do this,’’ Dr Apisalome Talemaitoga, a GP in Manukau and chairman of the Pasifika GP Network, said.

The situation in Christchurch was ‘‘unbelievable and avoidable’’, he said. ‘‘It’s a no-brainer that you don’t let unvaccinated people travel to a place that hasn’t had a positive case for a while.’’

University of Otago public health expert Nick Wilson said anyone going to the South Island should be vaccinated.

‘‘Otherwise we are wasting these precious weeks and months with lockdowns to boost vaccination levels. It’s crazy ... We should not be allowing unvaccinated people to cross internal borders.’’

Air New Zealand has already announced a vaccine mandate for international travellers and is reviewing whether the same policy would be rolled out to domestic flights. The airline has been approached for further comment.

Wilson said the Government ‘‘hadn’t done a proper job’’ with internal border control and a multi-layered approach was needed. He said there should be a vaccination requirement, a PCR test, then a rapid antigen test and tightened criteria for essential workers crossing the border.

‘‘It’s pointless to keep trying to stamp out outbreaks – you have to tighten internal borders to match.’’

Talemaitoga said the cases highlighted the delay with rapid antigen testing. ‘‘The fact we are still relying on a negative PCR test ‘before leaving Auckland’ sounds so old hat. We need to be smarter at deploying what’s available to us.’’

Asked how difficult vaccine certificates would be, he said: ‘‘It’s miniscule compared to the hassle of funding someone in an ICU for two weeks.’’

Saliva testing at airports was long overdue, said Associate Professor Arindam Basu of the University of Canterbury’s college of education, health and human development.

Although saliva testing or rapid antigen testing ‘‘wouldn’t have picked up these cases’’, he said rolling out more options had advantages. ‘‘Saliva testing is as good as PCR testing. It’s fast . . . and people will be more accepting of saliva testing.’’

Speed was also the key argument for rapid antigen testing, although it was considered less accurate than PCR testing.