10 Sep 2020

Family isolated in Cook Islands after quarantine breach

6:33 am on 10 September 2020

A family in the Cook Islands has been placed in supervised quarantine after a family member had contact with a person repatriated from New Zealand.

Aerial landscape view of the beautiful Muri Lagoon and a Motu (Islet) in Rarotonga Island in the Cook Islands.

Photo: Rafael Ben-Ari/ 123RF

Sixty-six people were returned to the Cooks from Auckland on Friday and quarantined at approved houses.

All those repatriated had tested negative for Covid-19 before departure after two weeks of quarantine in New Zealand.

They're now in houses flying yellow flags for a fortnight that they can't leave until testing negative twice.

The Cook Islands News reported a private security firm saying police and health ministry officials were under pressure to ensure there were no further quarantine breaches.

Chris Denny from Cook Islands Security said with hundreds more families due to return, spreading them out around Rarotonga was risky.

Those repatriated should instead be placed under guard at resorts which are easier to secure, he said.