Covid 19 coronavirus: Hobbiton visitor tests positive

The person took part in a Hobbiton tour on August 7. Photo / File

A visitor to Hobbiton later tested positive for Covid-19, the tourist attraction says.

Deputy chief executive Shayne Forrest told the Herald the person took part in a tour at noon on Friday, August 7.

They had a positive Covid-19 test on arrival back in their home country.

Staff and customers on tour with the person had been notified, and look out for any Covid-19 symptoms, he said.

"We have followed all instructions from the Waikato DHB and the ministry advised us that the risk to our visitors and staff is very low.

"We have stringent cleaning measures in place across the site, including cleaning of coaches between departures.

"As a precaution, all staff and customers who were on tour with this individual have been notified and asked to monitor their health closely and be vigilant for any symptoms in line with the national guidelines around Covid-19."

Yesterday a case emerged that was unconnected to the South Auckland community cluster, which appears to have started at the Mt Wellington Americold workplace on July 31.

The new case was a maintenance worker at Rydges Hotel who tested positive on Sunday during mandatory testing of all workers at managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) facilities.

The Auckland cluster stood at 58 confirmed cases yesterday, but the Government is expecting it to grow to the largest cluster New Zealand has had so far.

The current alert level settings - level 3 for Auckland and level 2 for the rest of the country - are in place until 11.59pm on August 26, but Cabinet will review the settings on Friday.

Health Minister Chris Hipkins said this morning that there was no need to move Auckland to level 4, based on the test results so far.