8. Question No. 8—HealthCHRIS BISHOP (National—Hutt South) to the Minister of HealthQuestion No. 8—Health8. CHRIS BISHOP (National—Hutt South) to the Minister of Health: What does the Government's resurgence plan for COVID-19 say about testing those involved in maritime transport if anything and is he satisfied with the implementation of that plan?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Minister of Health): I think the member is confusing the resurgence plan and the testing plan. They are different plans so I will address the testing plan. The testing strategy is separate from the resurgence plan. Testing at the maritime border includes regular ongoing testing of port workers who have contact with ships' crew; secondly short-term mandatory testing of port workers who have contact with ships' crew with our focus on the few thousand higher-risk workers and that has been happening over the last few days and over the next few days; and regular mandatory testing of crew where a crew member wishes to disembark and remain in New Zealand. Strong targeted testing is already focused at the ports and at the border and there's been an intensified effort with the ports of Auckland and Tauranga due to the connection with the Auckland community cluster. To date more than 3485 workers at ports around New Zealand have been tested for COVID-19 so yes I'm overall satisfied that health officials are standing up what they need to do.Chris Bishop: Has there been regular testing of workers at our sea border or when did that testing commence?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: No there has not been regular testing at the sea border and until recently it was not a requirement for that to happen. It is important to note that thousands and thousands of people will interact with the border every day and it's not necessary to test all of those people. The focus has to be on testing of those who are likely to have contact with those who are coming off ships even if they're coming off the ships temporarily to load and unload. Chris Bishop: Why was there not a requirement for regular testing at our sea border when the Government assured New Zealanders that the first thing we need to do is to continue to ensure our border stays as tight as it can be?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: One of those barriers was logistical. It is not possible to test all of the people at the sea border. Some of those people don't actually come off ships at all. Some of them will come off ships only for a matter of hours before going back on to those ships. It is not always possible to test absolutely everybody working at the port or at the sea border.Chris Bishop: Has he asked for weekly briefings from his ministry on the number of workers at our sea border who have been tested for COVID-19 and if not why not?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: Yes I asked for detailed breakdowns on a very regular basis of all of the testing taking place across the country. That was one of the first things I did as Minister of Health.Chris Bishop: If that's the case why did the Government not move more quickly to ensure regular testing of workers at the sea border since he's just told the House he's been receiving weekly briefings on the number of workers at the sea border since he became the Minister?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: I have of course been pushing very hard to get additional testing happening at the border—the air border and the sea border—and at managed isolation and quarantine facilities and I've been providing near daily updates publicly about the progress on that so it shouldn't come as a great surprise to anyone around that. I have been reluctant to make it mandatory and again I've been very open about that bearing in mind that the legal power that I have to make it mandatory was vigorously opposed by members of this House who called it a massive infringement on human rights. Chris Bishop: Has he visited any ports to check on the implementation of the Government's testing of workers at the border?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: I've not visited any of the seaports. I visited Auckland international airport. My colleague Dr Woods has visited seaports.