COVID-19: Wellington family still waiting for coronavirus test result after 16 days in quarantine

A Wellington family in isolation is desperate to go home as they face their 16th day in quarantine.

Robert Wihongi, his wife, and their two children arrived back in New Zealand from Brisbane on August 2 and are staying at the Waipuna Hotel in Auckland.

The family - who are all free of symptoms - tested negative for the coronavirus on day three. They were tested again on day 12 where only three results came back negative. The fourth result hasn't been returned and they are not allowed to leave without that final negative result.

"It's quite disappointing seeing other families that have been tested after us leaving," Wihongi told Newshub. 

The father-of-two said they decided to return home from Australia to be with their family amidst the pandemic.

Health Minister Chris Hipkins said on Tuesday he was unaware of the case but the Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said they will have a look at it. 

"The managed isolation, particularly the ones where people have to return a negative test before they go, we try to prioritise those," said Dr Bloomfield.

"Of course the Auckland labs have been processing high volumes but we'll work with the managed isolation facilities to make sure that those tests do get prioritised."