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This story was originally published on RNZ.co.nz and republished with permission.
Auckland DHBs have acknowledged that hotels are not ideal healthcare locations in a report on how a nurse caught Covid in the city’s quarantine facility.
Hannah Peters / Getty Images
A nurse was infected at Auckland’s Jet Park in September.
The Nurses Organization, the National Party and some epidemiologists are calling for a review of hotels, saying they may not be the best place to quarantine people.
A nurse was infected at Auckland’s Jet Park in September, and two health workers tested positive at Sudima in Christchurch this week.
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A summary of a review of the Jet Park case by Counties Manukau DHB Executive Director Fepulea’i Margie Apa found the nurse to be infected when she went to help a very ill patient.
He was left with full personal protective equipment, but the patient removed his mask for treatment and the nurse was with them for “a while,” Apa said in the summary.
“The healthcare worker did everything right with the patient, but the subsequent infection shows how complicated this virus is and how easily it can spread,” he said.
The nurse also maintained good infection control afterward and did not pass the virus on to anyone else, according to the summary.
The managed isolation was “still a learning environment” because both the virus and the program were new.
“Also, hotels are not designed to provide medical care.”
While their systems worked well, DHBs continued to learn about how to better protect people across the facility, he said.
Joseph Johnson / Stuff
Covid managed isolation facility at the Sudima hotel near Christchurch airport.
Earlier this week, the Nurses Organization said the system was not working if isolation staff were becoming infected and that staff were becoming increasingly anxious and fearful.
He called for an urgent investigation to keep the workforce safe.
The 18 managed isolation and quarantine facilities in Auckland are jointly managed by Auckand and the Northland DHBs, led by Apa.
RNZ asked the Health Ministry for a full review of the Jet Park case, but only published Apa’s summary.
RNZ continues to seek the full review, this time from the city’s DHBs.
