Covid-19 Delta outbreak: Scare at police station - 13 officers awaiting final test results

Eleven police staff were wearing masks incorrectly when they came into contact with an offender who later tested positive for Covid.

A total of 13 Waitakere police officers are waiting on news as to whether they can return to work after a Covid-19 positive woman spent time in a custody suite.

The woman was arrested on September 23 and taken to the North Shore Policing Centre in Mairangi Bay, before driven to the custody unit at Henderson in West Auckland.

When officers arrested the woman for a breach of bail and burglary offences, she was asymptomatic and went through a health screening test before she was taken to the custody unit.

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However, on Sunday police were notified by Corrections that the woman had since tested positive.

The custody unit was closed and 13 officers were put into self-isolation as police discovered after scouring through CCTV footage that 11 of them had been wearing their masks incorrectly.

A police spokesperson said the custody unit reopened on Monday about 11pm.

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"All of the 13 officers have since returned a negative Covid-19 test so we are waiting for their five-day test and will be seeking the advice of MoH to see if they can return to work."

And while all 13 staff were wearing PPE, "the way it was worn on 11 officers fell short at various levels of the strict internal police requirements therefore as a precaution the staff were advised to self-isolate at this stage for 14 days".

"Just to be clear, all the staff had masks on, the issue was more with how the masks were worn. We won't be commenting further for privacy reasons."

Waitematā District Operations Manager Inspector Jason Edwards earlier told the Herald they were working closely with the Ministry of Health and had reviewed CCTV footage to check who had been in contact with the woman.

The room where the woman was held for a brief period at the North Shore Policing Centre in Mairangi Bay - which is closed to the public currently due to the level 3 restrictions - was deep cleaned.

All arrests overnight on Sunday that required a person to be detained were taken to the Auckland City District Custody Unit based at Mt Eden.

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Auckland is split into three policing areas - Waitematā, City and Counties Manukau.