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Several business owners whose facilities were visited for a new Covid-19 case in Northland say they have not yet been contacted by the ministry and only learned of their involvement from others.
The 56-year-old from southern Whangārei, who tested positive a week after completing a managed isolation stay at the Pullman hotel in Auckland, visited 28 locations in the days leading up to her positive result.
At a press conference Sunday afternoon, Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins and Chief Health Officer Ashley Bloomfield said the companies would only be named publicly after being contacted.
Ministry of Health
An affected businessman said he was grateful that the positive case had used the Covid Tracer app to document his movements.
But Aaron Watson, owner of the South Head General Store, said he only found out the woman had visited his store when a friend told him via Facebook, after the list was posted on the ministry’s website on Sunday. the night.
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Now he is trying to get more information from health officials.
Seeing his business listed was “a bit devastating,” he said, adding that people in the area were now in a panic.
Watson said his Facebook posts were going crazy since the list of locations went public. He said he had tried calling health officials and was number 40 in line before his call was cut off due to poor reception in his area.
Watson said it would have been nice if he had been told earlier about the person’s visit with Covid-19.
But he was grateful for the Covid-19 Tracer app and was glad the woman had used it.
In a post on the store’s Facebook page, Watson urged everyone who had visited his store around the same time as the positive case to isolate themselves.
Regan Xia, owner of Macnut Cafe in Auckland’s Helensville, said she had also not heard from health officials and learned from a friend that her business was on the list.
He said that hearing that his business had been visited was “shocking.”
Angela Chamberlain, owner of Joseph Taylor Homewares, said it was “quite disappointing” that she had not been contacted, now that her store had been identified as being visited by the woman. He intended to get tested, he said.
A spokesperson for the Aesthetic Clothing Store, based in the Okara Mall in Whangārei, also said they had not been contacted by the Health Ministry and did not know they were one of the affected businesses, until he contacted them. Stuff On Sunday afternoon.
KEVIN STENT
Health CEO Dr. Ashley Bloomfield said the ministry was trying to contact affected businesses, but on Sunday night some said they hadn’t heard from officials yet.
When asked by a reporter why the list of companies was not being made public at the press conference, Bloomfield said the ministry wanted to first contact those who own or manage those facilities.
He said the interview with the woman who has Covid-19 was conducted late on Sunday morning and that was when the locations were provided to health officials.
“We are going through a process and our national contact tracing team is supporting the DHB (district health boards) to contact all those companies as soon as possible, some of them are not open today,” he said.
Stuff was able to contact South Head General Store owner Aaron Watson on Sunday night, an hour after the list was released.
