Patrick Hall,74 at Ruakaka Fresh Choice. Photo / Tania Whyte
Patrick Hall,74 at Ruakaka Fresh Choice. Photo / Tania Whyte
Northland residents have expressed concerns over the Government's border controls after a 56-year-old woman from the area tested positive for Covid-19.
The woman twice tested negative for the virus while in MIQ at Auckland's Pullman Hotel and left the facility on January 13.
Before developing symptoms and testing positive, she travelled around southern Northland. The list of locations she visited was released Sunday evening.
The new community case has seen increased wait times at testing stations in the region, with traffic jams and long queues awaiting Northlanders who seek a coronavirus swab.
Most people spoken to by the Northern Advocate at Ruakākā did not blame the Covid-positive woman for her travels.
A woman, who works in Ruakākā, was one of the many people waiting patiently for her test.
She said the initial reports of a case in Northland had made her "p***ed off" that the Government's border processes had failed.
When she discovered she had shopped in the Ruakākā FreshChoice store at the same as the positive case she felt compelled to do her "bit to keep others' safe".
"Initially I wasn't too worried. I more feel inconvenienced because I felt like I needed to come and do this testing to be on the safe side. The chances are so slim, I just wanted to make sure there is no doubt."
The woman, who did want to be identified, said she does not use the contact tracing app as she doesn't want her movements tracked.
"I know where I've been. For me it's easy to monitor it myself because I go to such few places."
Another Ruakākā woman, who did not want to be named, had shopped at FreshChoice supermarket on January 14 at the same time as the woman.
She was getting tested today just to "double check".
When the news broke she hoped she hadn't been in any of the same places as the positive case.
"I really feel that maybe they should've isolated for longer at home but she had had those tests done - it's just the way it is."
The woman, who works for the Government, will have to take time off but said her employer was extremely supportive and understanding.
She said she usually uses the "great" Covid tracing app but didn't on this particular day.
"I just ran in to grab some bread and milk but when I'm in a place for longer I always make sure to use the app."
Traffic backed up the hill on Great North Rd as locals wait to be tested at the Kamo, Winger Cres testing station. Photo / Karina Cooper
The close call has meant the woman will now be extremely diligent with her tracing app, she said.
She had concerns about whether the positive case had been allowed to leave the country during border closures and return.
Patrick Hall, 74, shops at the Ruakākā FreshChoice every day and was among those in the highest risk with his health conditions of diabetes and emphysema.
However, he said he wasn't stressed about the new case visiting the store and didn't blame her for doing so.
"The woman didn't know, you can't blame anyone but the Government."
When asked how the community is feeling, Hall said he had heard mixed reactions.
"The ones I've spoken to so far, one thinks it's a load of bulls*** and the others are taking a more responsible view of it."
The woman that tested positive in Northland visited my work twice.. The first time I was there and because I am on checkout, I could have served her. Getting the test at 9am. #COVID19nz
One man waiting in the line at the Pohe Island testing station said he had earlier queued up at the Winger Cres, Kamo, testing station, but the queue was so long staff diverted him and many others to the Pohe Island testing station instead.
The man, who had been in Noel Leeming, Whangarei, at the same time as the woman, said he was getting a test just to be sure.
He said while the Winger Cres testing station queue was virtually at a standstill when he was there, the queue at Pohe Island at 9.55am was at least moving.
Jan, who lived at the nearby marina and shopped often at the FreshChoice, said she hadn't heard the news about Ruakākā's involvement with the latest case.
She said she was a religious user of the tracer app but said many people weren't so committed to using it.
A Maungaturoto woman, who did not want to be identified, said she had waited about half an hour at the refinery testing station to get a test as she was a worker in a store the Covid positive woman had visited.
She estimated there were hundreds of people at the testing station, making it a potential four-hour wait, she believed. She had left the queue as she didn't want her dog, who was in the car, to wait for that long.
Morningside resident Michael Patira. Photo / Karina Cooper
Morningside, Whangārei, resident Michael Patira, 30, didn't want to step out his front door this morning but a back to school shopping list for his child meant he had to.
Parita said his Work & Income benefit meant The Warehouse was one of the only places he could purchase items from.
"I'm only here for my children's stationery because they go back to school. I didn't even want to leave the house but I had to."
