Covid-19: Mall food court among locations of interest linked to border worker case

Tuesday, 20 April 2021

Emotional scenes at Auckland Airport as first trans-Tasman bubble flight arrives (published on May 28 2021).

Three locations of interest have been announced in relation to the Auckland Airport border worker who tested positive for Covid-19.

The fully-vaccinated employee, who works cleaning planes that have come from countries with a high-risk of Covid-19, tested positive for the virus on Tuesday.

The locations of interest include Westfield St Lukes Food Court, which the case visited on April 17, between 12:15pm and 2:30pm.

The case also went to Bunnings New Lynn, between 2:30pm and 3:50pm, and Movenpick Dominion Rd, between 5:15pm to 7:20pm, on the same day.

Bunnings, New Lynn, was visited by the border worker Covid-19 case on Saturday.

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Movenpick Dominion Road was visited by the border worker Covid case on Saturday April 17, 5:15pm to 7:20pm. (File photo)

The Ministry of Health said people who were at these places are considered casual contacts and should monitor their health and be aware of any symptoms of Covid-19.

If anyone develops symptoms they should stay at home, contact Healthline on 0800 358 5453 and get a test.

A Scentre Group spokesperson said Westfield St Lukes is in contact with the ministry and is not required to take any further action.

They said the mall has increased the routine cleaning of frequently-touched hard surfaces in the building.

Ben Camire, head of operations of Bunnings, said a deep clean was conducted at the New Lynn store overnight. He said the store was trading as normal on Wednesday.

The ministry said the person has been tested weekly for Covid-19 as part of routine surveillance testing.

It said they were tested on Monday at their workplace as part of this, and that test came back as positive on Tuesday. Their previous tests were all negative.

The person is currently isolating at home and will later be transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility, the ministry said.

Five household contacts have been tested and have returned negative results. Close contacts from the person’s workplace are being identified, isolated, and tested.

So far, the ministry has identified 16 close contacts.

It said this number will likely change as further scoping of this person’s movements identifies other people they have been in close contact with.

The case comes after the first quarantine-free flights from Australia arrived in the country on Monday, with the opening of the trans-Tasman bubble.

Meanwhile, there was one new case in managed isolation reported on Tuesday – a historical case. The case of the border worker is not being counted in today’s total, the Ministry said.

As of Tuesday, there were 86 active cases of Covid-19 in the country, as 17 cases have recovered since the last update.