Coronavirus: Woman books room and enters Auckland managed isolation hotel

The Novotel Hotel at Auckland Aiport.
The Novotel Hotel at Auckland Aiport. Photo credit: GoogleMaps

An investigation is underway after a member of the public was able to book a room at an Auckland managed isolation hotel and enter the facility on Monday.

A managed isolation and quarantine spokesperson told Newshub the person entered the lobby and reception area of the Novotel Hotel in Auckland Airport at 8:30pm on Monday.

"It was quickly established that the individual had a booking in the system which had been booked through a third party," they said.

"The hotel had previously cancelled the booking, however, the individual advised that they hadn't been informed."

The spokesperson said the member of the public was wearing a face mask and sanitised, and they did not come into contact with guests or touch any surfaces.

"This has been confirmed with CCTV footage. Standard COVID-19 procedures were followed by staff who were in contact with the individual."

A source told Newshub they were surprised when the woman attended a conference at Butterfly Creek on Tuesday morning.

They said police were called out of concern and the woman was removed.

"She's made it to the course and potentially infected the room. So the police are staying with us until [the Ministry of Health] says we are allowed out."

The source said they were "mad" about the incident but ultimately everyone was "super nice" and they continued the course while in lockdown.

They confirmed the conference attendees weren't required to go into self isolation as a result of the incident.

Butterfly Creek was closed to the public on Tuesday, but the function space was open for the event.

General manager John Dowsett said there were around 15 people attending the conference who were put at risk of COVID-19 and could have had to self isolate for 14 days.

He said it was particularly concerning that security at the Novotel had allowed the woman to walk into a managed isolation facility, that's supposed to be secure.

The managed isolation and quarantine spokesperson said the Auckland Regional Public Health Service deemed the incident as a low public health risk.

"The individual has been advised to monitor their health for 14 days as a precaution.

"An investigation is underway following the incident and corrective action is currently being taken to prevent this type of incident occurring again."