Brooke van Velden
ACT Deputy Leader and Health spokesperson
The ACT Party has secured an Urgent Debate in Parliament about the deaths of New Zealanders who were isolating at home with COVID-19.
This debate is not about politics – it’s about people, lives have been lost and more are at potentially at risk.
Thousands of New Zealanders are relying on the Government to provide a self-isolation system that can look after them and keep them safe from COVID-19. The most important thing Parliament can do is to provide confidence to the public that the system will work.
Because of that there are questions the Government needs to answer.
Where are the pulse oximeters for every COVID positive case in self-isolation? Why isn’t the Ministry of Health as available on the phone as it should be? Why isn’t there more consistency with care and calls? Are we doing everything we can to secure enough ICU workers?
We will ask these questions in the debate this afternoon on behalf of sick and vulnerable New Zealanders.
The Government had more than 18-months to prepare for the Delta variant. Instead of spending that time preparing the country, it spent the time patting itself of the back for its eradication strategy and “doing a little dance.”
The ACT Party sends our condolences to those who have lost loved ones to this virus, we will continue to hold the Government to account for its response to COVID-19.
