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Officials claimed this afternoon that the woman, in her 20s who works at AZ Collections on High St in a customer-serving role, tried to phone her work at an Auckland CBD store, but ended up coming in and using a mask.
The situation has been criticized by Auckland Mayor Phil Goff, who says he is frustrated and disappointed by the incident.
It has led to a call for Auckland CBD employees to work from home tomorrow.
The woman became symptomatic on Monday and was examined on Tuesday.
But despite receiving tips to isolate himself, he spoke to his manager and went to work Wednesday wearing a mask.
But the store’s co-owner, who declined to give his name, told The New Zealand Herald tonight those claims were not true. And he has called the lawyers.
“We never met the staff [member] she was sick, she never said she had a test done, “she said.
“We never knew he was feeling bad. We just want to tell the truth.”
The man said that he and his wife, who is the other co-owner of the store, have now contacted their attorney about the claims.
He also said that they had been the target of abusive messages on their cell phone and email account.
“We feel really unsafe,” he said.
In addition to the threats, they had been sent messages telling them to “go back to China”, while other messages included their home address.
Goff told NewstalkZB that it was a big problem and the worst that could have happened.
He said Auckland could beat Covid again, but the Aucklanders had to follow the rules and work collectively.
The mayor also told RNZ that “this is not great news.”
“The worst thing that happened in this case is that the woman was told to isolate herself and then a store manager told her to come to work. That is frankly incredible.
“I just can’t understand that. It defies common sense. There’s a lesson in that, and you think it’s a lesson that people didn’t need to learn.”
Covid Response Minister Chris Hipkins also chimed in, saying it was disappointing that the woman’s manager told her to go to work despite the advice he had given her to stay home.
Earlier, Hipkins and Public Health Director Caroline McElnay urged people working in central Auckland to do their work from home if possible tomorrow.
