Covid 19 coronavirus: live: three new Covid cases at MIQ, no community cases

There are three new Covid-19 cases at MIQ and none in the community.

The good news comes after a series of investigations began into the transmission of Covid-19 among Kiwis returning to a second managed isolation hotel in Auckland.

Health Director General Dr. Ashley Bloomfield and Managed Isolation and Quarantine Squad Chief Jim Bliss provided the update at 1pm.

Bloomfield said how the Grand Millennium cleaner, known as Case A, contracted covid is still being investigated. The household contact who initially tested weak positive has given a second negative covid test.

All close contacts of the cleaner also returned negative results.

It was revealed yesterday that the Grand Mercure in central Auckland was under investigation following a possibility of transmission within the facility with hundreds of people who had completed isolation administered in the past 10 days and were asked to redo try and isolate themselves.

Bloomfield said efforts were underway to contact the 250 people who had left since March 10, while 190 people had been contacted as of 9 a.m. today.

Health authorities revealed that genome sequencing results showed a link between two returnees who tested positive for Covid-19 while staying at the hotel.

Both were infected with the UK variant, despite staying in separate rooms on different floors and arriving on flights two days apart.

One of the infected traveled by bus to an exercise field with others from different facilities.

Officials were investigating the source of the infection.

Earlier this year, three people in managed isolation at Auckland’s Pullman hotel caught Covid-19 in three separate incidents.

The hotel was temporarily closed for decontamination and improvements after three returnees fell ill after completing their mandatory 14-day stay in isolation, raising fears that the infection has spread throughout the community.

At the time, Bliss confirmed that genome sequencing confirmed that all three cases had the variant first identified in South Africa.

A report on the episode in February indicated that poor ventilation in the hotel corridors contributed to the spread.

It was revealed yesterday that as a precautionary measure, around 250 people who had left the Grand Mercure since March 10 were contacted and asked to be tested immediately and to remain in isolation at home until a negative result was returned.

Other measures taken include additional on-site testing and exit testing for all returnees leaving the facility.

Additional surveillance tests were also conducted on the Grand Mercure staff as an additional precautionary measure.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment was also conducting an internal investigation into the bus journeys made by returnees to determine what happened in this case and what improvements could be made to strengthen their processes.

The ministry said there was no evidence of any Covid cases in the community related to this situation at this time.

Meanwhile, about 5,000 doses of vaccination were expected to be administered throughout the North Island this weekend, including in hotels and medical clinics.

Currently around 50,000 doses have been administered throughout the country.