Wellington locations of interest not contacted prior to be listed on website

Wellingtonians line up outside a Covid testing facility. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Wellington supermarkets say they were not contacted before being listed as possible exposure sites on the Ministry of Health website.

On Saturday three locations of interest were added to Wellington's list, in addition to the seven uploaded on Friday.

They were Countdown Newtown, Pak'nSave Kilbirnie and Asian Food Specialist in Kilbirnie.

Countdown Newtown was identified as a location of interest for the period of Friday, August 20 from 8.05am-9.45am.

A Countdown spokesperson said they were given a heads up at roughly the same time as their Newtown supermarket was listed as a location of interest, just before 1pm on Saturday.

Wellingtonians on Oriental Parade on day 2 of lockdown. Photo / Mark Mitchell

"This is an incredibly fast evolving situation," they said.

"We completely appreciate that the local DHBs and ministry are working as fast to let us know as they can so we can brief our team.

"It's very distressing for our team who are on the frontline serving customers so that's our first priority."

They were in the process of arranging a deep-clean, briefing and supporting the team while identifying rosters and contacts.

"Any of our team who are required to isolate will do so. We're also in contact with local health authorities for any further requirements."

Asian Food Specialist also said they found out they were a location of interest only when the business was listed on the Ministry of Health website.

Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson said earlier in the day part of the delay in releasing locations of interest was efforts made to alert businesses before the locations were publicly released.

A Ministry of Health spokesperson said in some instances a location of interest was published online or by news media before the business was formally notified by contact tracers.

"We appreciate it is not ideal for businesses to be informed this way but we ask them for their understanding," they said.

"This is a fast-moving situation and sometimes contact tracers don't always have the resources to contact businesses before they are announced as a location of interest."

Contact tracers were working tirelessly, and they said it was expected more than 10,000 contacts would have been identified by the end of the day.

"We would like to acknowledge their incredible mahi, and thank everyone who has cooperated with contact tracers."

Asian Food Specialist in Kilbirnie had been listed as a location of interest on Thursday, August 19, between 4.45pm and 6pm.

Pak'nSave Kilbirnie had been listed as a location of interest on Thursday, August 19, between 11.40am and 12.55pm.

The advice to staff and patrons at all three stores was the same: isolate at home, test immediately and on or around day five, and stay at home until they had received a negative day five test result.