The managers of a Whangarei hotel caught up in the Northland Covid scare say they contacted police and health authorities after they suspected two women of a possible border breach.
The revelation comes as contact tracers scramble to work out who the pair came into contact with when they spent three days travelling across the region nine days ago.
So far 21 people have been identified as close contacts.
The Northland case has been linked to the Auckland outbreak but the exact cluster is yet to be identified.
More work is being done on this.
The Auckland-based woman, who tested positive for Covid, remains in an Auckland quarantine facility.
A second person who is thought to have travelled with this case has been contacted but not yet located.
Public health staff are continuing to work closely with the person to determine any locations of interest or exposure events associated with the case.
Almost 4000 Covid tests have been carried out in Northland over the past four days.
There are five testing sites open today in Kaitaia, Whangarei, Dargaville, and Kerikeri.
These areas also have vaccination sites running.
Cabinet is also reviewing restrictions for Northlanders - who are at alert level 3 until Wednesday - while contact tracers scramble to determine the exact movements of an infected person who travelled across Northland, and who is not complying with authorities.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the Covid-positive person who travelled to Northland remained unco-operative with authorities about their movements, despite police now being involved. A second woman has been contacted but not located.
The earliest recorded location of interest in Whāngārei is on Saturday, October 2, before several more popped up over the weekend and through to Monday, October 4.
At 6pm on that Saturday evening, a person with the virus checked into the Comfort Hotel Flames, in Onerahi, a seaside suburb of Whangarei. They were there until just before midnight (11.59pm) that night.
Staff at the hotel have told customers on its Facebook page that they suspected something was not right and at no time did the two women go into the bar or dining areas.
"Immediately - soon after the check-in of the two women concerned - our suspicions were aroused so we contacted police and health officials to inform them of a possible border breach.
"I can assure you the two women in question never entered the bar or dining areas of our hotel and were places well away from other guests for the short time they were with us."
The BP Connect Wylies, in the Whangarei suburb of Woodhill, was then visited by the woman that night - between 11.20pm and 12.20am.
On Sunday morning, October 3, a visit by a Covid positive case is recorded at Pepe's Dairy, on Onerahi Rd, between 9am and 10am.
Later that night, at least one person with the virus checked into the Kingswood Manor Motel in Whāngārei.
The motel appeared on the locations of interest page this morning; confirming that an infected person spent the night there. The affected time is between 9pm and 10.15am the next day.
The Comfort Hotel Flames is also still linked to a person with Covid on this day - between midnight and 6.30pm the next day.
On Monday afternoon, October 4, the Z Kensington gas station on the corner of Kamo Rd and Nixon St - about a three-minute drive from the motel - was linked to a positive case between 3.45am and 4.45pm.
Members of the public who were at the petrol station during that time were urged to stay home and get a Covid test immediately as well as five days after being exposed to that location. People were also urged to record their visit on the ministry's website.
"Please continue to stay at home until you receive a negative day five test result."
The Kingswood Manor Motel was once more visited by the Covid-infected woman staying from Monday 12am through to 10.15am.
The potential exposure sites continue to grow as police and health officials sift through hours of security footage.
Rumours have been swirling that the pair were involved in sex work and are connected to the Mongrel Mob.
This morning Arden told The AM Show the woman who travelled to Northland had used falsified or inaccurate information to cross the border, but as far as she was aware it was nothing to do with gangs.
She said she had no evidence to suggest either of them were prostitutes or that they had travelled there with Mongrel Mob life member Harry Tam.
She admitted the government had not yet established what the women were doing there and were relying on CCTV footage to retrace their movements across the region
There had been a real lack of co-operation which is why the police were involved, she said.
At the same time her former deputy prime minister and Northland resident Winston Peters accused the Government of withholding vital information.
In a tweet he said there was a need to identify the second woman as only Northlanders would know where she had been and was holed up now.
To not release this information guaranteed virus spread in the community, he warned.
