Rydges worker tests positive, Weta staff warned to be vigilant

19th August 2020 By Shannon Williams | shannon@tourismticker.com | @tourismticker

A maintenance worker at Auckland’s Rydges Hotel has tested positive for Covid-19, says director-general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield.

The hotel is being used as a Government managed isolation and quarantine facility.

Ashley Bloomfield

Addressing media on Tuesday, Bloomfield said genome testing showed the man’s case was not linked to the current Auckland community cluster.

He was one of 13 new cases reported yesterday, of which the other 12 were connected to the current Auckland cluster.

The worker did not have any routine contact with guests but he returned a positive result for the virus on Sunday 16 August with symptoms showing on 11 August. He was transferred to Jet Park Hotel quarantine facility on Monday 17 August.

Bloomfield said genome testing showed a woman from the US with the same sequence as the maintenance worker stayed at the hotel from July 28 to July 31 before she returned a positive test on day three of their stay.

The minister in charge of managed isolation Megan Woods said there was no obvious person-to-person contact between the worker and the US returnee, however, investigations were ongoing.

“This highlights how tricky and insidious the virus can be,” she said.

Woods added that Rydges was an “incredibly well-run facility” with no reports of any incidents. No close contacts or staff at Rydges that had been tested had returned a positive Covid-19 result.

At Wellington, Weta Workshop staff were warned to be vigilant after a visitor tested positive for Covid-19.

In an email sent to all Weta Worskshop staff on Friday, general manager David Wilks said the Ministry of Health had informed them that a person who visited Weta Cave on Thursday, 6 August, between 9.15 and 9.45am had since tested positive on arrival overseas.

“The ministry advised us that the visitor was asymptomatic when they visited and was only on the premises for a very short period. They did not do a tour,” Wilks said.

Although the risk was considered very low, staff were asked to monitor their health closely and be vigilant for any symptoms such as a cough, sore throat, runny nose, fever, temporary loss of smell and difficulty breathing.