Auckland quarantine facility the Jet Park Hotel has been evacuated.
The evacuation came after a steam cleaner set off a fire alarm at the high-security hotel in Mangere, near Auckland Airport.
"This morning around 9:35am a fire alarm went off at our Auckland quarantine facility," a COVID-19 National Response Group spokesperson told Newshub.
"Those inside the building were safely evacuated as per fire evacuation processes, including the requirement to maintain physical distancing.
"Returnees were evacuated to the designated assembly point under the guidance of the onsite coordinator for around 15 minutes... [and] were safely returned to their rooms when the facility was declared safe."
Jet Park Hotel is the facility at which active COVID-19 cases caught at the border are sent, along with their close contacts and symptomatic new arrivals.
It's understood fire crews were sent to the facility just after 9:30am on Thursday morning, all wearing personal protective equipment (PPE).
The incident comes just days after a managed isolation facility in Rotorua was evacuated following a false fire alarm. Around 300 people were staying at the Sudima Hotel when the alarm went off.
Central Lakes Area commander, Jeff Maunder, told RNZ that "a whole range of national protocols" had been developed to protect fire fighters in light of the coronavirus crisis.
