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Police charged a 36-year-old man with leaving a managed isolation facility in Auckland on Sunday night.
Head of Managed Isolation and Air Quarantine Comodoro Darryn Webb.
Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
The man left the isolation facility run by Ramada Federal Street around midnight Sunday, walked through Auckland and returned to the hotel around 8 a.m. Monday morning.
“Police have been conducting a series of investigations since the man left and subsequently returned to the facility on Monday,” a police spokesman said.
“The man has been charged with failing to remain in a managed quarantine or isolation facility for a period required under the Covid-19 Public Health Response Act and Order 2020.”
“The man has been seen by CCTV walking in parts of Auckland, from the city center to Newmarket, Epsom, Onehunga and Mt Albert before returning to the facility on Federal Street,” said the head of Managed Isolation and Air Quarantine, Commodore Darryn Webb.
It twice tested negative for Covid-19 and health officials are confident that there is a low risk to health, Webb said.
“The method of exit is still under investigation, but the first indications are that the fugitive broke the security latch on his window to force the exit.”
Webb said sheets were found hanging from a fourth-floor window.
The man returned from Australia on a deportation flight on September 16.
He is due in the Auckland District Court tomorrow.
