Covid 19 hits council, Top Energy

It's business as usual for Top Energy's field staff. Picture / File

Staff members at the Far North District Council and Top Energy are among the Northlanders who have been diagnosed with the Covid-19 virus.

Mayor John Carter told a council meeting conducted by videoconference that the staff member had gone into isolation after being found to have Covid-19 about two weeks ago. Before developing symptoms they had "done a little bit of shopping etc., so that is an issue for us," he said.

Mr Carter would not say what the employee's role was, but said the public had not been put at risk through dealings with the council.

He added that Far North lines company Top Energy and contracting company Broadspectrum also had workers who had tested positive. A case of Covid-19 at New World in Kaikohe had already been widely reported in the media.

"The point I'm making is that it's in our community, it's amongst us, so we have to be aware, alert and careful," he said.

Top Energy chief executive Russell Shaw said one staff member at the Kerikeri office had tested positive, but had fully recovered and had gone back to working from home on Monday. Hospital treatment had not been needed.

Mr Shaw said the office had been sanitised and nine work contacts had gone into isolation. All had tested negative, which he put down to good social distancing within the workplace. All office staff were now working from home.

Field staff were continuing to work - "we still have to keep the power on" - but were disinfecting tools between jobs, maintaining social distancing and staying within their own work bubbles.

"The guys have been very careful and are doing an excellent job. They don't want to take this stuff home," Mr Shaw added.

No new Northland cases were reported on Tuesday, keeping the number of confirmed and probable cases in the region at 27. One patient remains in a stable condition at Whangārei Hospital, while 12 people are self-isolating at home and 14 have recovered.

Mr Carter told councillors to expect strict rules about how people interacted even after the Level 4 alert was lifted.

"Handshakes and hongi will not be part of our community for some serious time," he said.