Larry Page's New Zealand-based employees reportedly tried to get their boss a luxurious managed isolation facility upgrade during his stay here earlier in the year.
The Google co-founder came to Aotearoa in January after his child received a medical exemption to be flown across the border from Fiji and receive treatment at Starship Hospital.
When the pair arrived, they were taken into an "isolation environment" in the hospital, Health Minister Andrew Little told Parliament on Thursday.
Stuff now reports the billionaire entered a managed isolation facility in downtown Auckland a couple days later and he stayed for the full two weeks. However, during his time there, it's reported staff employed by Page based in New Zealand requested he be upgraded to a higher-grade facility.
According to Stuff, MIQ officials strongly resisted the calls and he didn't receive special treatment. He's since returned to Fiji, where he has been residing through much of the pandemic.
Page, one of the world's richest men and who Newshub on Thursday revealed is a resident of New Zealand, applied alongside his child on January 11 for a medevac to New Zealand from Fiji.
Medevacs can occur when someone "requires immediate treatment and are therefore unable to go through managed isolation before treatment", the Ministry of Health says.
Prior to the flight being approved, "a clinical assessment is carried out in New Zealand prior to accepting the individual for treatment. The clinical assessment includes a check that the treatment required is not available locally".
Little said this happened in Page's case.
"The day after the application was received a New Zealand Air Ambulance staffed by a New Zealand ICU nurse escort medevaced the child and the adult family member from Fiji to New Zealand," Little said.
"On arrival, the child and the adult were taken immediately to an isolation environment in the hospital. In the event of discharge within 14 days, the child and the adult would have been required to be transferred to an MIQ, and I am advised that all COVID-19 orders in this respect were complied with."
In the year ending June 30, 99 patients on medevac flights had been accepted for treatment in New Zealand. The majority of these people are Pasifika and come from the Pacific Islands. A small number are New Zealanders returning for treatment.
The Ministry of Health says costs of the medevac "must be covered by either a Government to Government agreement, private insurance or by direct payment".
"Costs of any medical treatment in New Zealand must also be covered for individuals not eligible for publicly funded services."
