Health Ministry says Covid is ‘unlikely’ cause of death at Auckland MIQ facility



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A guest has died at the Grand Millennium Auckland.

Supplied

A guest has died at the Grand Millennium Auckland.

It is “ unlikely ” that Covid-19 was the cause of the death of a man in an Auckland isolation facility last night, the Health Ministry said this morning.

The isolation and quarantine administered last night confirmed that a 63-year-old man who arrived from the Pacific died on Monday.

The returnee showed no Covid-19-related symptoms during his previous daily health checks, MIQ Acting Deputy Executive Director Andrew Milne said in the statement.

In a statement to Stuff This morning, the Health Ministry said that the cause of death is unlikely to be related to Covid, as the person had no symptoms and came from a country without local transmission of the virus.

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Milne declined to comment further on the details of the death.

Previously, guests of the Grand Millennium were told in a letter from Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment officials Monday night that a fellow quarantine had died at the hotel.

Stuff One of the guests at the isolation facility passed him a copy of the letter.

The letter stated that “a returnee staying at the Grand Millennium sadly passed away.”

“The death has been referred to a coroner and our thoughts are with the returnee’s family at this sad time,” the letter said.

The letter said that guests may have to stay in their rooms for a “short period of time” while they follow procedures for such situations.

The letter also offered contact details for a free trained counselor.

Details of the guest’s death were not immediately available.

Milne said MIQ will not comment further as it is now a coroner’s investigation.

The guest who passed the letter said they were in their room when the letter slid under the door.

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