Covid 19 coronavirus: Passengers repatriated from Korea land in Wellington; school worried about quarantine facility

The Grand Mercure Hotel is reopening today as a managed isolation and quarantine facility. Photo / Katie Harris

A domestic charter flight carrying returnees from Korea has landed at Wellington Airport.

A new Covid-19 managed isolation and quarantine facility has been set up in Wellington at the Grand Mercure Hotel.

The hotel has 115 rooms and is reopening today to manage arrivals coming into the country.

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A Wellington Airport spokesman confirmed earlier it was expecting a repatriation flight to arrive from Auckland at 2pm.

"Passengers will be kept separate and will not have access to any public areas of the terminal. Aviation Security, NZDF and police will be on site to assist the passengers," he said.

The All of Government Covid-19 response team confirmed the charter flight to Wellington has returnees on it who landed in New Zealand earlier this morning from Korea.

A bus arriving at the the Grand Mercure Hotel in Wellington. Photo / Katie Harris

"The original flight landed in Auckland and, following completion of health screening and immigration processing there, the passengers were subsequently transferred to a domestic charter flight to Wellington.

"Only passengers on the flight from Korea were on board the domestic charter flight," a spokesperson said.

The Grand Mercure Hotel, where the new Covid-19 managed isolation and quarantine facility has been set up, is located across the road from a primary school, which has some parents concerned.

Authorities move luggage from incoming travellers. Photo / Katie Harris

Te Aro School principal Sue Clement sent an email to parents this morning advising that after school finishes today the first arrivals will move into the hotel.

"I have met with one of the lead advisers from the All of Government team and feel reassured that all the measures that are needed to keep those living or working in the area safe are in place. I will continue to keep you up to date with any information that is shared with me."

Clement advised parents they would now not be able to drive into the hotel's driveway to drop off or collect their children.

"Please make arrangements to drop your child off down on Buller St or down on Abel Smith St or Aro St or Willis St or Victoria St.

"Please make an alternative meeting spot for your child to wait for you after school instead of sitting on the wall outside the hotel," Clement said.

Political commentator Bryce Edwards was waiting outside Te Aro School this afternoon to pick up his children.

He said it was a surprise to find out the hotel was being used as a Covid-19 managed isolation facility but it wouldn't keep him awake at night.

"Maybe this is a suitable location, it's a wee bit out of the CBD but it is in a very high-density inner-city area nonetheless and it's right opposite a school, so I think there will be some alarm especially amongst families, parents and even some children to come out and see the police presence."

A group of students living next to the hotel were surprised when a busload of people arrived at the hotel.

One of them, Victoria Jolliffe, said she wasn't worried for her own health and safety but would have preferred to be told in advance.

"Maybe if we had a heads-up that this was happening in our neighbourhood, that would have been nice, but apart from that I guess they need a place to go and it's an empty hotel."

A concerned school parent told the Herald she was sympathetic and supportive of the need to let people come home to New Zealand from overseas.

"But there are lots of hotels around the country including in Wellington, and I would imagine a lot of them would like some business.

"The decision to do it literally metres away from a primary school strikes me as really problematic.

"It just worries me that my kids might somehow come into contact, and I'm probably overreacting, but it seems to me that there are so many other locations that could have been chosen."

She said she was most concerned about the lack of geographic separation between the school and the hotel.

She said she would be driving her children to school to ensure they didn't go near the hotel.

"It's impossible to walk to the school without going on the footpath by the hotel."

In her email to parents, Clement said the managed isolation facility would be coordinated by the All of Government IQR team and a site manager from the New Zealand Defence Force.

The team included staff from Regional Public Health, Aviation Security, and Capital and Coast District Health Board.

"On-site will be NZDF, Aviation Security and a private security company to ensure managed isolation requirements are upheld," Clement said.

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