Covid 19 coronavirus: Auckland Novotel Ellerslie guests told of new infection case

Guests at Auckland's Novotel Ellerslie have been told one among them has tested positive for Covid-19.

A guest in managed isolation at the hotel told the Herald guests were confined to their rooms from around 7.30pm last night following an announcement by hotel staff.

"A speaker over the in-room PA system said that a guest had tested positive for Covid-19 and had been moved to a quarantine area.

"We were told to stay in our rooms while they cleaned the common areas."

The case would lift the number of active coronavirus cases in New Zealand to 14.

The guest, who didn't want to be named, said those in isolation were tested for the coronavirus on Wednesday.

He said it was a good sign the infection was picked up, as it meant health officials had caught it early.

Guests at Ellerslie Novotel have been told one among them has tested positive for the coronavirus. Photo / Dean Purcell

Facing another 11 days in managed isolation, the man said he was comfortable with the current protocols.

"Staff are all wearing masks and gloves, there's perspex screens and markings on the ground for physical distancing.

"Everyone here's been distancing themselves and being really good."

Security guards and Navy personnel were on-site with Ministry of Health workers, he said.

Three new cases of the virus were announced this afternoon - one in Rotorua and two in Christchurch.

All are in managed isolation.

One of the cases is a woman in her 30s, from Peru. She is staying in Rotorua, and was known about on Wednesday afternoon but was not part of that day's official count.

She is at the Ibis. Everyone staying at the hotel is being tested and isolated.

The woman arrived on June 20. She tested positive after routine testing on day three of her managed isolation.

Everyone on the bus from Auckland to Rotorua is being followed up, as is the driver. They will be tested.

Rotorua's Ibis Hotel was put into lockdown around 11.30am on Wednesday after she tested positive for the virus.

It was lifted shortly after 7pm.

Bloomfield conceded there "may be more" Covid cases in Rotorua after Wednesday's new infection and the fact that travellers were taken there on crowded buses.

The second case is a man in his 70s, who arrived in New Zealand on June 20.

The third is a man in his 30s from India.

Both are staying at the Commodore Hotel in Christchurch in managed isolation.

The Novotel Ellerslie housed the two sisters who were allowed out of isolation - before being tested - to grieve the sudden death of a parent in Wellington.

The two infected women had been staying at the hotel since they arrived on a flight from the United Kingdom, via Brisbane, on Sunday, June 7. They left the hotel on Saturday, June 13, to drive to Wellington, where they returned a positive result.

On June 17, guests were confined to their rooms as testing began on all of those staying at the hotel.