The household contact of a Grand Millennium Hotel cleaner who tested positive for COVID-19 this week has returned a second negative test, the Director-General of Health has revealed.
In a press conference from the Ministry of Health's Wellington headquarters on Friday afternoon, Dr Ashley Bloomfield also announced three new COVID-19 cases in managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) facilities and none in the community.
All three of the new cases arrived from India via the United Arab Emirates, though on different days. Their detection takes the total number of active cases in New Zealand to 74, with the confirmed cases recorded since the beginning of the outbreak now standing at 2123.
Dr Bloomfield says the second negative result for the household contact of the Grand Millennium worker, Case A, reinforces health officials' belief that the test result was either a false positive or indicative of an early but fleeting infection that didn't present any risk.
The cleaner is still being treated as a close contact, but has not been classified as a confirmed case.
"All close and casual contacts of Case A have returned negative initial tests," a ministry press release reads. "They are due to have their day five tests today and tomorrow. Results of those will come in over the weekend."
Dr Bloomfield also gave an update on the ministry's efforts to track down the 250 people who'd left another Auckland MIQ hotel, the Grand Mercure, since March 10 and were required to get re-tested and self-isolate amid concerns about transmission within the facility.
He said 193 of them had been contacted as of 9am on Friday, and that health officials were attempting to get in contact with the others.
The Ministry of Health press release said the public health risk posed by those who'd stayed and worked at the hotel was considered low.
"We yesterday put in place immediate additional steps including additional onsite testing and exit tests for all returnees leaving the facility," it read.
Head of MIQ, Brigadier Jim Bliss, said an investigation has been launched at the Grand Mercure and into bus journeys to exercise yards off-site. Health officials will also look at air conditioning at the hotel.
He said a person who later tested positive travelled to an exercise area with people from other MIQ facilities, and confirmed these bus journeys have now been put on pause for 24 hours.
Fourteen returnees have since had their stay extended due to an increased risk of transmission through bus journeys and walks. Brigadier Bliss said health officials hadn't yet considered waiving their MIQ fees, but would look into it.
