New Zealand has another new Covid-19 case. The man is in his 60s and is now in a quarantine facility in Auckland - the Jet Park Hotel.
A man who stayed in the same quarantine hotel as two women with Covid-19 is "pissed off" at the situation and thinks staff were too relaxed about social distancing rules.
He is one of the hundreds considered to be close contacts of two women, who were let out of hotelon compassionate grounds before having a coronavirus test.
Up to 364 people now need to get an urgent swab test to determine whether or not they have become infected. That figure was initially 320, but was updated this afternoon.
Authorities announced the two women, from the same family, had tested positive on Tuesday after being tested in Wellington the day before.
Among those who are potentially at risk are the passengers who travelled on the same flight as the pair - who flew into Auckland from the United Kingdom, via Brisbane.
The brother of a man who was on that flight, which touched down at Auckland International Airport on Sunday, June 7, said his sibling was frustrated and angry at the situation.
"He's pissed off about it," the brother told the Herald.
The man, who lives in Brisbane, had also been sitting close to the two women on the shuttle bus that took passengers to the Novotel Auckland hotel in Ellerslie that early afternoon.
Passengers and staff too complacent - guest
The women had stayed at the hotel for almost a week before they were granted an exemption to travel by car to Wellington on Saturday, June 13.
After authorities broke the news to the country that the women had tested positive for coronavirus, the man told his brother he felt that a lot of people - including hotel staff - had been too complacent around social distancing rules.
The man had told his brother he remembered the two women when he would go out for his daily walks in the morning.
They kept to each other, he had said, but many other passengers - particularly those in the smoking area near the hotel's main entrance - had been very relaxed.
No one wore masks and smokers tended to mix and mingle with whoever happened to be out smoking at the same time - no matter which flight a person had come in on.
Security and police at the Novotel hotel in Ellerslie, Auckland, on Tuesday. Photo / Dean Purcell
"He saw them every day [and] he did say that he hadn't seen 'the girls' for a few days."
Asked how his brother recognised the pair, he explained that many of the passengers had started to recognise one another throughout their stay.
Another man who stayed at the Novotel in managed isolation after returning from the US is now waiting for a Covid-19 test result; after being identified as one of the close contacts.
The man, who also asked for anonymity out of respect for his family, stayed at the Novotel between June 2 and Tuesday, June 16.
Guests who have already left the Novotel identified as close contacts
He checked out of the hotel at 10am that day. By 1pm, news was breaking of the two new confirmed cases.
"I called Healthline [yesterday] morning to ask for a test. They said I was not considered a close contact and I could only get a test if I showed symptoms.
"I did have a test on June 12 - which was negative - but I thought that since all hotel guests still there had to have another test, I would think that would mean everyone who stayed there should have another test."
The man received a call from the Ministry of Health late yesterday confirming he was one of the then-320 close contacts.
"I have been out getting another Covid-19 test," he said today.
The man said he tried to pick times when fewer people were outside, such as straight after breakfast or at lunch time.
He also revealed that no testing facility was available at the hotel for any of the passengers to get tested.
"It could explain why the women did not get tested before they were released." "When I asked about getting a test I was told I could only get a test at the quarantine facility."
