The Rydges Hotel in Central Auckland where a worker tested positive for Covid. Photo / Will Trafford
The Rydges Hotel in Central Auckland where a worker tested positive for Covid. Photo / Will Trafford
A union leader is calling on the Government and health officials to quickly find the source of a hotel worker who contracted Covid-19.
Unite Union general secretary Gerard Hehir today said it was very important to drill down and find what happened with the mystery case at the Rydges Hotel in central Auckland.
In an interview on Newstalk ZB today, Hehir described communication between the Government and the Ministry of Health on the testing issue so far as less than ideal.
All staff and guests are being re-tested at Rydges after the maintenance worker's positive test. He apparently did not come into contact with any travellers.
The worker went to work with a cough for two days, but put it down to a pre-existing health condition. He passed a temperature check at work but tested positive when mandatory testing of staff was introduced late last week.
The strain of Covid is different to that involved in the big Auckland cluster that has forced the city into a two-week level-3 lockdown.
Hehir said it was particularly concerning that no one has figured out what happened and how.
"Our members are mostly room attendants who clean the rooms in isolation facilities when guests leave and this maintenance worker has obviously a similar pattern of work to them," Hehir said.
To be fair, he said, the isolation set-up was an extremely complex operation akin to a new prison system.
"This is going to go on for months and months and maybe years. We really need to get the processes down very clear, and testing needs to be done properly and efficiently," said Hehir.
He said his members who work alongside people with Covid want to know when they should be tested, saying they could be the "eyes and ears" of making sure the safety systems work.
Yesterday, the Government said some border workers had refused to be tested after it emerged the border-testing regime had not been up to scratch.
Hehir said union members had expected to be tested, but haven't known how often they should be tested, nor did he know of any union members who have resisted being tested.
He said it was unclear to union members what happens if they do not have sick leave, particularly if they have run out or only started work and do not have sick leave.
Hehir said there must not be any disincentive for staff not feeling well to take leave or self-isolate if they had been tested or showed any symptoms.
"They are low-wage workers. If they think they are going to lose money, then they are less likely to put their hands up and be tested or take a precautionary approach, which is what is needed," Hehir said.
