19 Aug 2020

'We've certainly got capacity': Megan Woods on space for positive cases at Covid-19 quarantine facility

12:05 pm on 19 August 2020

Minister in charge of managed isolation Megan Woods says at the moment there are no cases connected to the Rydges Hotel maintenance worker.

Housing Minister Megan Woods speaks to media during a press conference on Budget 2020 delivery day at Parliament May 14, 2020 in Wellington, New Zealand.

Minister in charge of managed isolation Megan Woods. Photo: Pool / Hagen Hopkins / Getty Images

She said all workers at the Rydges Hotel had been re-tested and the person's close contacts had been tested.

Some results are expected today and tomorrow, but the others that were in had returned negative results.

"We have to keep watching because we can't rule anything out. We have to get to the bottom of every cluster and make sure we're identifying everybody who could or has the virus ... making sure we're doing the appropriate isolation and contact tracing."

Woods told Morning Report the Jet Park Hotel quarantine facility was tracking on well and there was no indication it would not be able to accommodate any more cases that might arise.

"We are making Jet Park wholly around the positive cases and their close contacts."

She could not confirm if every positive case quarantine facility in the country - like those found in Tokoroa - was at that facility.

There was a contingency plan in case there was a need for another quarantine facility, she said.

"At the moment we have 75 rooms available in Jet Park and 100 extra that could be brought on. We've certainly got capacity."

*See all RNZ coverage of Covid-19

'Severe measures' at Rydges Hotel

Returning New Zealander Tan Copsey is currently in managed isolation at the Rydges Hotel where a maintenance worker was tested positive for Covid-19.

"The measures at the hotel are good, they're pretty severe ... we don't have a lot of contact with the other residents here but those I have spoken to seem calm about the whole thing," Copsey said.

He has been re-tested but was not too concerned about surface transmission of the virus at the hotel.

"We're in managed isolation, we've come back from New York, we've been incredibly cautious about everything we do anyway for the last five months, so not too worried about it, not the likely method of transmission really."

He said protocols in New Zealand were "more than okay" compared with New York and it was "wonderful" to be back and feel safe again.

With another week to go, he was passing the time with the daily crossword, he said.

"Life inside managed isolation could be a lot worse."

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