Covid 19 coronavirus: Contacts must continue isolating, despite lockdown exit

Director general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield has given a stern reminder to those deemed contacts of recent Covid cases that they must remain isolating when Auckland comes out of lockdown. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Auckland will exit alert level 3 restrictions this weekend, but health officials have given a stern reminder to those earlier ordered to isolate that they must continue to do so.

The earlier failure by people who had been exposed to other Covid-positive community members or locations to isolate drew out the length of the current community outbreak and thrust the country back into tough alert level restrictions.

Keen to avoid a second occurrence, director general of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield told a national press conference any person contacted by the Ministry of Health and advised they were a "close plus" or a "casual plus" contact must do three things.

Those three things were: to stay at home, report for and undergo medical testing for Covid, and accept they must continue to isolate until they hear otherwise from a medical officer of health.

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Bloomfield said he discussed with the Solicitor-General earlier today whether medical officers had legal powers under Section 70 of the Health Act they could use to convince people to obey isolation requests.

But he also said he was "confident" people would do what they were asked.

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Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said most of the alert level restrictions requirements were "very well understood" by the population.

She said she "does not believe" people had intentionally broken isolation restrictions in relation to the latest lockdown.

"The most important principles for our Covid management have been sticking together and not turning on each other," Ardern said.

Bloomfield said the South Auckland community had shown great leadership during the Valentine's Day cluster, and those who broke isolation requirements did not do so intentionally.

Ardern said the week-long lockdown gave the best chance for any positive tests to "manifest" themselves.

It had, in their opinion, been the "wise approach".

There were still 10 people that health teams didn't have results for from the original CityFitness location of interest.

Eight of those people had had a test. Two hadn't, but those were from the visit on February 20 - before the person with Covid became symptomatic.

Ardern said they were still trying hard to find the two people from the February 20 gym visit.

"They will be found," Bloomfield said.

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