An MIQ guest has absconded from the second story room they were staying in using a rope fashioned from bedsheets in what a spokesperson says was not an attempt to escape.
A spokesperson for MIQ confirmed to Newshub that a returnee has climbed out of their window at around 5:55pm on Friday using a rope they made out of bed linen.
While the incident may seem like an escape, the spokesperson says it "was not an absconder attempt".
They say the returnee scaled the building in an attempt to retrieve an item that was outside on the ground two storeys down.
"A returnee at a Managed Isolation Facility climbed down a bedsheet-fashioned rope from the second storey level, to retrieve an item on the ground.
"Using CCTV monitoring, Managed Isolation Facility staff were able to respond immediately and support the returnee safely back to their room."
They say the guest had no injuries and measures are being taken to support their wellbeing.
"Managed isolation can be a challenging time that affects people going through it, in different ways, and it sometimes follows what may have been a stressful time in making arrangements to get home," the spokesperson added.
Several returnees have attempted escapes from MIQ hotels, the first exactly a year ago on June 4, 2020, when a woman climbed the fence of the Pullman Hotel. She was found a few streets away and arrested.
July 2020 saw a spate of escapees. On July 7 a man left the Stamford Hotel in Auckland and went to the supermarket, prompting the Government to upgrade fencing in all MIQ facilities to six-foot-high barriers.
However, on July 9 a man cut through the fence at the Distinction Hotel in Hamilton and visited a liquor store.
A person broke a window and escaped the Waipuna Hotel in Mt Wellington on July 11 and on July 24 a mother and four teenagers fled the Distinction Hotel to attend their fathers funeral.
The final escape happened on July 30, a man escaped the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Auckland and was caught further up the road.
