The Prime Minister says she's surprised to hear the story of a sick 11-year-old and his family being declined emergency managed isolation (MIQ) spots.
It comes after a Newshub report about 11-year-old Maddox Preston, who flew to the US city of Houston with his family six weeks ago for potentially lifesaving treatment. Maddox was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumour when he was 9-years-old and it kept coming back, despite four brain surgeries and two rounds of chemo in New Zealand.
But father Chad Preston said they've been unable to get an emergency spot in MIQ to return from overseas, despite their application being bolstered by Starship Hospital and US doctors.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who last week was sent an open letter on behalf of almost 2000 Kiwis abroad calling for immediate and urgent changes to the MIQ system, was asked about the Prestons' case during an interview with The AM Show on Monday.
"That one would surprise me given the criteria that we have - because we keep aside an allocation of several hundred rooms to allow for people in emergency situations say, for instance, you've got a family member who's had a dire accident and is on death's door, to be able to go and be with them and have the ability to come back," Ardern said.
She said she'd personally ask officials about the case.
"People like Maddox, those who are in dire situations, we have constantly tried to keep aside an allocation for them… so I'll make sure the team looks into what's happened with his circumstances."
The letter written to Ardern last week said issues with MIQ were making New Zealanders feel like second-class citizens. Ardern admitted there was pressure on MIQ but insisted it was a successful system overall.
"Keep in mind, we have right now over 4500 people as we speak sitting in hotel rooms that need daily health checks, that need security, that need the police and the Defence Force and hundreds of nurses every single day swabbing people," she said.
"We have to ask the question: What does it [MIQ] exist for? It exists to keep New Zealanders safe and so, yes, I do consider it as a success in the fact that it has kept New Zealanders safe."
The Preston family said they planned to submit another emergency MIQ request.
