The Director-General of Health has been unable to shed any more light on the movements of the woman who travelled to Northland with someone who later tested positive for COVID-19.
Police confirmed on Monday night that the woman - who officials have been trying to contact and locate for days - had been found at a west Auckland address and taken into custody under Section 70 of the Health Act.
The woman, who will now isolate in a MIQ facility, is thought to have travelled to Northland earlier in October with another woman who tested positive for COVID-19 upon her return to Auckland. That case has not been cooperating with police to identify any contacts or locations of interest and is suspected to have used falsified information to gain an exemption to cross the boundary.
Questioned on The AM Show on Tuesday morning, Dr Ashley Bloomfield said the woman taken into custody was showing COVID-19 symptoms, but he was unable to provide any new information about where she was found or if she was with anyone else.
"Look, the only information I have was what was in the police statement last night, which said it was a west Auckland address, so I guess one good thing is, she was in the Auckland region, not in Northland," he said.
"Our team in Auckland will be trying to make contact with and talk with her this morning just to see what additional information we can get about the movements when they were in Northland."
The only locations Dr Bloomfield was aware the women had visited were the ones already listed on the Ministry of Health's website identified mostly through CCTV footage.
"There are several locations of interest in Northland that have already been on the Ministry website for a few days but they are just a couple of accommodation facilities, and I think a petrol station or two," he said.
"What we really want to do is find out the people that they have been in contact with so we can follow up and test those people, that's the information we really want to get."
His message to them was to get tested.
"That's really important for us to determine whether there's any onward infection in their Northland community, and that will help us inform a decision about bringing Northland down out of alert level three later this week."
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Monday revealed Northland would stay at alert level 3 until 11:59pm on Thursday night, with a move to alert level 2 set to be confirmed by COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins on Wednesday.
Over the last four days, 2985 tests have been carried out in Northland. None of these have returned positive results.
There are a number of Northland locations of interest, including the Kingswood Motel and Comfort Hotel, both in Whangārei, and the Department of Conservation Uretiti campsite in Waipu.
"If you were in Whangārei, Paihia, Onerahi or Kawakawa between Saturday, 2 October and Wednesday 6 October, you may have been at a location of interest," the ministry says.
"More specific details will be updated on this page as information comes to hand but it is recommended that you go and get tested, even if you don’t have COVID-19 symptoms. Testing stations are open throughout the weekend."
