Covid 19 coronavirus: West Auckland restaurant closed for cleaning after infected diner eats meal

A restaurant in New Lynn has been closed for cleaning after an infected customer who later tested positive for Covid-19 dined there last week.

Bricklane Restaurant and Bar was yesterday notified by health authorities a customer who visited their premises on September 2 had tested positive for Covid on Tuesday.

It was closed immediately for cleaning.

In a message posted on Facebook the restaurant's chief executive Allan Pollard said because the eatery was a public space, all customers and staff were considered casual contacts.

There was no need to self-isolate but Bricklane management had decided to halt service for extensive cleaning.

"As a precautionary measure we closed the restaurant at lunch today for a deep clean and had a professional contractor complete an anti-bacterial fogging of the entire premises. We will reopen for business once complete," wrote Pollard.

"We would like to assure all of our customers and or teams that their safety is of utmost importance."

The Clark St restaurant opened at 4pm later that day.

It's the second New Lynn commercial premises to temporarily close its doors in the past week after an infected customer was in their building.

On Tuesday Countdown supermarket inside LynnMall was closed for deep cleaning after the company was informed of a visit by a person with Covid-19.

A person who tested positive for the coronavirus visited the store on the previous Friday from 8pm until 8.30pm.

The same New Lynn store was closed for deep cleaning three weeks earlier after a person who later tested positive for Covid-19 visited the store.

The store closures come as the Auckland August community cluster continues to swell with new cases emerging daily from the Mt Roskill Evangelical Fellowship mini-cluster.

There are now 43 cases linked to the infectious group, with revelations the church met during lockdown and were skeptical about the need for Covid restrictions.

The Auckland August cluster now stands at 171.