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A Covid-19 case related to the Auckland marine employee group runs a bed and breakfast, but health officials have not told their guests.
Some of those guests crossed paths with the man at his Coatesville BnB in North Auckland on Saturday, after he was exposed to the virus at work.
Health authorities defend their decision not to inform guests of their host’s diagnosis or ask them to be tested, saying they are not considered close contacts.
There has been no suggestion of any crime by the man, in his 60s, or anyone else in the new group, which now has four cases.
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It wasn’t until Sunday, after he met the guests, that the Health Ministry publicly announced the first case in what has come to be known as the marine employee cluster.
In that case, a marine electronics specialist, in his 20s, who works on board ships, has been praised for his efforts to get tested regularly and limit his contact with other people due to the nature of his job.
JASON DORDAY / Things
Wright’s Auckland office, the business at the center of Covid’s latest community cluster, is currently closed.
It is believed that he likely picked up Covid-19 on the container ship Sofrana Surville in Auckland, where he worked on October 12 and 13.
In the days that followed, he traveled to and from New Plymouth for work before visiting Wright’s Rosedale office on the North Shore on Friday morning, then left when he began to feel ill.
Since then, two other Wright staff members have tested positive for Covid-19, along with one of his domestic contacts, who works out of Westpac’s central office in central Auckland.
Three of the four cases are now in the Quarantine facility of the Jet Park Hotel, and preparations were underway on Friday afternoon for the latest case to join them.
One of the cases also operates a bed and breakfast comprising several units on his rural property in Coatesville, North Auckland.
He and his wife isolated themselves at their home, which shares a driveway with the units, once news of the first case broke.
Two of his guests said Stuff they crossed paths with the owner on Saturday, after his exposure to the virus, but before it was publicly announced, his employee had tested positive.
As of Thursday, the guests had yet to hear from health authorities and were unaware of their hosts’ links to the latest group.
The Auckland Regional Public Health Service (ARPHS), which conducts contact tracing in the region, referred requests for comments to the Ministry of Health.
RYAN ANDERSON / Stuff
A nurse works at a pop-up testing center on the North Shore.
It said in a statement that ARPHS had told the ministry that it knew of the man’s B&B.
However, the case said he had not had close contact with anyone in the units for more than 15 minutes or at a distance of less than 2 meters, the ministry said.
“Contacts will be alerted and public health advice provided, but if you do not contact you, it is not a risk,” the statement said.
Wright’s office on Ride Way, Rosedale, shares a building with several other unrelated businesses.
Among them are a radio controlled hobby shop and a brothel.
No company has been contacted by the health authorities, Stuff understands.
The Health Ministry said there was no risk to these businesses because they used separate entrances.
The Wright’s director declined to comment, as did his employees.
