Covid-19 quarantine facility at the Jet Park Hotel in Mangere. Photo / Dean Purcell
Covid-19 quarantine facility at the Jet Park Hotel in Mangere. Photo / Dean Purcell
Hospital grade cleaning of parts of the Jet Park quarantine facility is under way after a healthcare worker tested positive for Covid-19.
The worker, one of two new cases of Covid-19 today, was tested on Friday morning as part of routine testing for border staff and returned a positive result on Saturday.
Five household contacts connected to the person are in isolation at their home and are being tested today.
Air Commodore Darryn Webb, Head of Managed Isolation and Quarantine, said staff are now working with the Auckland Regional Public Health Service (ARPHS) to find out how the healthcare worker contacted the virus.
That work includes reviewing staffing logs, swipe-card data and CCTV footage in order to map the person's movements within the facility over recent days.
"ARPHS is conducting interviews at the facility to identify any close contacts among fellow staff members, alongside interviews with potential close contacts outside work," said Webb.
"Any close contacts identified will be required to self-isolate and be tested."
The Auckland Jet Park Hotel quarantine facility is a tightly controlled environment and as with all managed isolation and quarantine facilities, it operates with strict infection prevention control protocols at all times.
Air Commodore Darryn Webb during a weekly managed isolation and quarantine update. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Webb said all staff at the Jet Park quarantine facility are tested weekly for Covid-19 with all but one staff member having had this week's routine test completed by today.
"As a result of this positive case, and as an added precaution, all staff are being tested again with 48 staff tested yesterday and the remainder to be tested today and tomorrow."
Hospital-grade cleaning of medical and operational staff rooms has been carried out using a Bioquell machine, which sanitises with hydrogen peroxide vapour.
The person is the first Jet Park worker to test positive in the five and a-half months that the facility has been operational. They were tested last week and returned a negative test.
The worker is one of two cases reported today.
The other is a returnee in managed isolation who arrived from South Africa on September eight and remains in quarantine in Canterbury.
There are 33 cases in the Mt Roskill Evangelical Fellowship Church group and 15 cases in the bereavement events sub-cluster; 98 per cent of the church congregation have now been tested, as have 98 per cent of those attending the bereavement events.
There are three people in hospital with Covid-19 – one is in isolation on a ward in Auckland City Hospital. Two are in ICU, at North Shore and Waikato hospitals. The number of active cases is now 97.
Of those, 39 are imported cases in MIQ facilities, and 58 are community cases.
