Covid 19 coronavirus: Three Auckland healthcare workers contract virus

Health authorities have declared Auckland's hospitals safe to attend despite three healthcare workers testing positive for the coronavirus. Photo / 123rf

Three Auckland healthcare workers have tested positive for Covid-19 with authorities saying they didn't believe the infections happened at city hospitals or clinics.

Authorities would not say which hospitals or other services the three staff worked at, saying instead they were employed "by the metro Auckland District Health Boards".

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"The healthcare workers are being managed at home in self-isolation," the Northern Region Health Coordination Centre said.

"The exposures are not believed to have happened at the staff members' workplaces."

"A small number of other staff members have been stood down as a precaution and are in isolation as close contacts."

Waitematā DHB chief executive and Northern Region centre lead Dr Dale Bramley said infection prevention and control measures were in place in hospitals and other sites to protect healthcare workers on the coronavirus front line.

He said healthcare workers were also "part of our community and have the same risks of exposure as other members of the public outside of work".

"We can reassure the public that the Covid-19 measures already in place at the city's District Health Board sites have minimised the risk for staff and patients associated with these confirmed cases," he said.

"Our hospitals, clinics and other sites are safe to attend."

The District Health Boards were supporting those affected by this news, he said.