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A quarantined traveler was caught trying to escape from an Auckland hotel after tying up sheets to climb four floors.
The man had been deported from Australia on September 16 and tested negative on days three and 12 of his stay. Today is on the 12th.
The sheet ladder was discovered at 8:20 a.m. today by security at the scene, said Air Commodore Darryn Webb, chief of managed isolation and quarantine.
The man, who had been deported from Australia earlier this month, was quickly detained by the police.
Public Health considers the risk of Covid-19 to the public to be low.
“At approximately 8.24 am, while the matter was being investigated, the occupant of the room showed up at the front door,” Webb said.
“The police immediately detained him and he is currently at the facility under questioning.
“So far, we have not been able to establish what time the man escaped from the facility.”
Investigations are ongoing, including a CCTV review to establish the man’s movements in the time he was off the premises.
Security at the facility has been tightened since the incident, Webb said.
“While the exact movements of this person are still being determined, immediate inquiries were conducted in the surroundings, which have not established any particular business or property entered by the fugitive at this time,” he said.
“The police investigation is at an early stage, and initial indications are that this person escaped by exiting through a fourth floor window and climbing a makeshift rope, which is clearly an extremely dangerous act.
“This person has put himself and others at potential risk and his actions were unacceptable. Willingly leaving our facility will not be tolerated and appropriate action will be taken.”
The deportee has remained asymptomatic during his 12 days at the Ramada.
It comes after it was revealed earlier tonight that there are no new cases of Covid-19.
Webb says that more than 55,000 people have passed through New Zealand MIQs, of which only 13 have escaped in nine different incidents.