[ad_1]
100 people were sampled at the Northcote test station in Auckland at noon on Tuesday, and 300 people were tested on Monday.
The majority of those who visited the test station were members of Takapuna Les Mills who were swabbed as a precaution.
“Les Mills and the warehouse. I was at both places that day, so I was careful to get tested,” local Penny Davenport said.
“They are very demanding in that gym. They have cleaned it thoroughly. I am not worried about going to the gym, but being cautious,” said another local Alison Parker.
There are 262 casual contacts from the gym. Another 72 are confirmed to be attending the same classes as the infected worker, but closer contacts are being sought.
There are now 94 possible close contacts linked to the three fitness classes the quarantine worker attended, prompting an increase in testing at community clinics.
A mother whose daughter was tested told Newshub she waited four hours to get tested.
“If that wasn’t bad enough, my mother gets my daughter’s results today. She wasn’t even with us yesterday,” he said.
Whanau Ora Clinical Director Dr. Vanshdeep Tangri said more staff had been included and an additional pop-up center had been opened. He said the new pop-up site will ease the pressure.
“Mainly from Les Mills, we’re getting a lot. Some from other locations as well,” he said, referring to the Countdown store and The Warehouse the infected worker visited.
Newshub revealed on Aug. 13 that more than 60 percent of border, quarantine, and isolation personnel had never been tested.
On the same day, the worker, a nurse at the Jet Park Hotel quarantine center, underwent her first COVID test and came back negative.
On August 18 and 27 it was negative, and also on September 6. But on September 13 a positive result was registered.
“It means, of course, that there has been a lapse,” said University of Otago public health professor Michael Baker.
“So somehow that worker has become so clearly infected that we need to investigate what happened and prevent it from happening again. But it is certainly better than the situation that applied before.”
Health Director General Dr. Ashley Bloomfield said Tuesday that the Auckland group “must” have been caused by a collapse at the border.
“It must have been introduced across borders, either at the airport or in a managed isolation facility or possibly through one of the ports,” he said.
Dr. Bloomfield’s statement contradicts Minister Megan Woods’ comments on September 2 that it is “unlikely” that the outbreak came from an MIQ facility.
As the virus continues to spread along with three new cases in managed isolation announced Tuesday and none in the community, Air New Zealand surpassed record sales: 70,000 cheap seats sold in six hours. It means that a lot of travelers are leaving Auckland.
“Yes, it is a problem if there are large volumes of people entering and leaving Auckland at this time,” said Professor Baker,
That, he said, could spread the virus. It is not a high risk, but it is a risk.
