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Michael Bradley / Things
Auckland Region Women’s Correctional Center in Wiri, South Auckland.
A woman returned a positive test for coronavirus just one day after her release from an Auckland prison.
The woman received her positive Covid-19 result on Saturday after she was rescued on Friday and tested the same day.
Regional Corrections Commissioner Lynette Cave said the woman was detained on April 29.
RNZ
Women in an Auckland prison have been routinely confined in their cells for periods of up to 29 hours in a row, largely outside a law that says they should remove at least one hour from their cells per day.
It is unclear why she was detained.
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Upon arrival at the Auckland Region Women’s Correctional Center in Wiri, she was quarantined according to information available to staff about her circumstances, Cave said.
She did not specify those circumstances in a statement, but it is understood that the woman had recently returned from the United States.
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After a court appearance on May 8, the woman consented to a test for Covid-19, Cave said.
“Later that day, she appeared in court again where it was confirmed that she had been examined, and the court released her on bail.”
During her 10 days in prison, the woman had no contact with any other prisoners, Cave said.
Michael Bradley / Things
The woman was in prison for 10 days.
“The cell he stayed in has its own adjoining patio, reducing the need for movement, and phone calls were made on a phone that was brought to his cell and then disinfected after each use.
“The [audio-visual link] the cabin used for his court appearances was also cleaned after each use, but in line with the deliberately cautious approach we have taken, we are identifying prisoners who used the cabin after it and will handle them separately from other prisoners and bring conduct testing when appropriate. “
After the woman’s release, the cell she was in was thoroughly cleaned, Cave said.
“The Ministry of Health has reported that the woman is now being supported in self-isolation in a private residence.”
All Corrections staff who work in the receiving office, and with prisoners in quarantine, wear a mask, gloves, gown and eye protection, Cave said.
Contact tracing has been performed.
Alan Whitley, national president of the New Zealand Corrections Association, said he did not know why the woman had been detained.
A facility staff member had told him that he was satisfied with the steps the prison director had taken to mitigate the risk of an outbreak, and that he was “highly appreciative” of the prison as a whole.
That included providing all the required personal protective equipment and having a mobile test station at the prison on Monday, Whitley said.
The corrections said two employees in New Zealand previously tested positive for Covid-19, but the department said neither had any contact with the prisoners.
They had both fully recovered, as had an extended licensed staff member who contracted the virus.
Before the woman tested positive after her release on Saturday, prisoners were not known to have contracted the virus.
