A health worker who is employed at Auckland’s COVID-19 quarantine facility at the Jet Park hotel, was reported today (Sunday September 13) as one of two new confirmed cases of the virus.

The health worker’s immediate household contacts are in isolation at their home and are being tested today, a Ministry of Health spokesperson said.

This case is still being investigated to determine if the infection came from the community or from within the quarantine facility, though at this stage no obvious links to other cases in the community have been established.

This case was found from routine weekly testing of all quarantine facility staff and demonstrates the value of the regular staff testing, the ministry said.

Staff at the facility regarded as close contacts have been stood down and a deep clean of staff areas at the facility has been completed.  All staff at the quarantine facility are being retested over the next 48 hours. That process began last night with 48 staff tested and more are being tested today.  

This is the first time a staff member at Jet Park has tested positive for COVID-19 in almost six months of operation. In that time the facility has managed 2532 individuals and their close contacts. 

The second confirmed case of COVID-19 reported today is an imported case. The returnee, who arrived from South Africa on September 8, was in managed isolation and is now in quarantine in Canterbury.

Public Health services continue to investigate the large South Auckland August cluster. There are 33 cases in the Mt Roskill Evangelical Fellowship group and 15 cases in the bereavement events group, which includes the cases whose source of infection was the bereavement events.

As reported yesterday, 98 per cent of the Evangelical Fellowship’s congregation have been tested. Similarly, 98 per cent of those attending the bereavement events have also been tested.

Today there are three people in hospital with COVID-19 – two are in ICU.

With today’s two new cases and 13 additional recovered cases, New Zealand’s total number of active cases is 97. Of those, 39 are imported cases in quarantine facilities, and 58 are community cases.

New Zealand’s total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 is now 1,446. 

PHOTO: Supplied