Covid 19 coronavirus: How an Auckland nurse contracted Covid in quarantine

A nurse wearing protective gear caring for a Covid-infected person in a quarantine facility was exposed to the deadly virus when she removed a mask during treatment.

An official investigation by the counties Manukau District Board of Health has determined the probable cause of the first healthcare worker to hire Covid-19 at the Jet Park Hotel in September, detailing how the violation occurred despite the strict quarantine conditions.

The chief health official for the South Auckland region described the infectious incident as “unfortunate” and said he was confident the worker followed the correct procedure.

Manukau County Board of Health Executive Director Fepulea’i Margie Apa said a report traced the possible source of infection back to the period when the healthcare worker was treating a Covid-positive returnee that he became very ill and needed immediate treatment.

During the medical emergency, the sick person had to remove the mask.

Apa said the nurse was with the returnee for “some time.”

The nurse was wearing full personal protective equipment (PPE), including a mask, and investigators found there were no flaws in the way she used her equipment.

His infection was detected during routine border workforce testing.

“This worker was unlucky enough to be the first healthcare worker in almost six months of Jet Park’s operation to become infected,” Apa said.

“The health worker did everything right with the patient, but the subsequent infection shows how complicated this virus is and how easily it can spread.”

The nurse was praised for her good subsequent infection prevention and control processes and for not transmitting the virus to a single person.

All of the woman’s close contacts were approved after completing her 14 days of self-isolation.

“She deserves our sincere thanks for her commitment to protecting us, the care she provides to New Zealanders when they return home, her professionalism and high standards,” Apa said.

Jet Park, like all managed isolation and quarantine facilities, had a dedicated workforce, and this staff member was not working anywhere else when he became infected.

Apa said healthcare workers in managed isolation and quarantine facilities had high standards of infection prevention and control as a result of their training and general experience, which in many cases included hospital emergency departments.

All healthcare professionals received specific training on Covid-19 before taking on quarantine work, including how to protect themselves and their friends, family and community.

He said the nurse’s infection at the border provided an opportunity to review protocols and emerging evidence to see what more could be done to protect everyone.

“Most importantly, when this happens, we see it as an opportunity to find ways to further strengthen our systems,” Apa said.

“It is important to remember that managed isolation remains a learning environment, as not only is the virus new, but the managed isolation program only started this year. Also, hotels are not designed to provide medical care.

Despite the gap, Apa said the quarantine and managed isolation systems were working well and health managers continued to learn more about the virus and how to better protect workers.

Still, in the past week, two Christchurch health workers in contact with the infected Russian and Ukrainian sailors have succumbed to the infection.

So far, it has been limited to the two workers. The two women are suspected of having contracted Covid-19 when the infected foreign sailors were transferred from isolation to the hotel’s quarantine wing.

Other contagion scenarios that are being explored include women who contract the virus from airborne particles while treating fishermen or touching a contaminated surface.

But questions are being raised about healthcare workers not wearing N95 masks to protect themselves against the smallest infectious particles in the air.

A report published in September revealed that nearly 100 healthcare workers were infected with Covid-19 while doing their job during the country’s first outbreak, which is equivalent to 10 percent of all local cases.

Data from the ministry showed that 167 healthcare workers contracted Covid-19 as of mid-June, and 96 of them were “likely infected” at their workplace.