The parents of a young man who escaped from an MIQ facility called police to report him missing on two occasions since he tested positive on Wednesday morning.
Now his mother is apologising for his actions.
The woman, her two teenage daughters, her sister and nephew all tested positive earlier this week and were transferred to the Holiday Inn on Monday, 1 News reported.
Her 75-year-old mother had also tested positive for Covid and was in Middlemore Hospital.
The woman's three sons, including the 23-year-old who escaped on Wednesday night, tested positive on Wednesday morning and were taken to the Novotel MIQ facility the same day.
When her 23-year-old found out he had Covid he immediately left their house, the woman told 1 News.
Her husband called to tell her and ask what they should do.
"I told him to call the police and tell them what happened because we don't want him to go out and spread the virus to other people," she said.
Their son arrived back home about 10 minutes after he left.
His mother said before testing positive he had not broken their bubble and she was disappointed and saddened to hear what he had done.
While reporting their son to the police was difficult, his parents believed it was the right thing to do.
"I needed the help from the police just to keep my son inside the house and don't go outside to spread the virus to other people. We want to protect the community," she said.
She spoke to her sons on Wednesday night after they arrived at the Novotel and told them to be happy and support each other but she was already worried about the 23-year-old who seemed quiet and withdrawn.
She called her youngest son on Thursday morning to check in on them and he told her he could not find his brother who he was sharing a room with.
She told him to call reception and tell them he was gone while she called her husband at home who found the 23-year-old asleep in their sleep-out.
The family then informed the Novotel he was at home.
"It's hard for us parents to speak up and report our own son. We want to protect him but when we think about the community, that's what makes us change our mind," his mother told 1 News.
"I just want to apologise to all the communities that are looking at us negatively."
Her son told them he ran and walked from Ellerslie to Ōtāhuhu in the middle of the night because he missed home.
"To be honest, I think he was stressed out and worried. I think he needed someone to support him," she said.
The family only found out through the media that her son had been charged and appeared in Auckland District Court via video link yesterday.
She was also afraid for her family after seeing recent online backlash against the Pacific community.
She said seeing their house on the news made her feel like everyone was looking down at them even though they did the right thing in reporting their son.
Joint Head of MIQ Brigadier Rose King said the Government was reviewing the situation to understand what happened and see if security measures could be improved.
She said CCTV footage showed the man had left his room three times between 11.40pm on September 1 and 1.04am on September 2.
On the final occasion, he appeared to have gone down the fire stairs and approached the fence line. He left the grounds at 1.07pm after hiding in bushes as an MIQ staff member passed.
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