Officials confirmed the Covid-19 case in the Ibis Hotel on Thursday. Photo / Andrew Warner.
Officials confirmed the Covid-19 case in the Ibis Hotel on Thursday. Photo / Andrew Warner.
Rotorua's official positive coronavirus case is a woman in her 30s who arrived on Saturday after flying to New Zealand from Peru and officials concede there could be more positive cases isolating in the city.
The unofficial Covid-19 case reported in Rotorua's Ibis Hotel yesterday has been confirmed by thedirector-general of health Ashley Bloomfield today. There are three new cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand, the other two are in Christchurch.
Rotorua's confirmed case has been at the Ibis Hotel in managed isolation since she arrived by bus on Saturday. She was to be transferred to the Jetpark Hotel in Auckland.
"Everyone that was on that bus from Auckland Airport to the Ibis Hotel is, of course, being followed up," Bloomfield said.
The driver, who was wearing PPE, was also being followed up. Everyone would be isolated and tested as a potential contact Bloomfield said.
A quarantine section inside the isolation facilities in Rotorua was being explored, Bloomfield said.
He conceded there "may be more" Covid cases in Rotorua after yesterday's new infection and the fact that travellers were transported there on crowded buses.
Director General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield during his press conference at the Ministry of Health in Wellington. Photo / Mark Mitchelll
He said wearing masks on the transfers, like the bus trip from Auckland to Rotorua, was something the ministry would look at "very closely".
Rotorua is now a quarantine hub after Auckland ran out of hotel space. On Saturday night busloads of 232 Kiwis arriving back to New Zealand from overseas were sent directly to Rotorua.
They are staying for 14 days at the Ibis Hotel and the Sudima Hotel, which had both been closed since lockdown.
Tourism Industry Aotearoa hotel sector manager Sally Attfield said a number of hotels around New Zealand had arrangements with the Government to provide managed isolation facilities if needed.
"This is a commercial decision by the hotels as a way of helping them to stay open and keep their staff employed.
"Plenty of accommodation is available around the country, so holidaymakers need not be concerned about finding somewhere to stay."
Returnees are being isolated in the Sudima Hotel, but do not have a positive case. Photo / Andrew Warner
A spokesman from the Government's Covid-19 National Response Team said Rotorua was playing its part in allowing New Zealanders to return home safely.
"We've been undertaking significant efforts over the past few days to connect with iwi, local government and the community to share information and provide reassurance.
"The Rotorua facilities are allowing families to reunite, employees to return back to work, and our whanau overseas to come home."
Both the Sudima and Ibis Hotel's declined to answer questions put to them by the Rotorua Daily Post.
How does the public feel about people isolating in Rotorua hotels?
Jim Robbie.
It seems logical I think. It will bring money into the city and as long as it's being managed properly.
Jim Robbie, 70, Taupō
Douglas Paltridge.
I don't think it is good for the city, but they do have to take these people somewhere. A bit of a grey area for me.
Douglas Paltridge, 48, Tokoroa
Leonie Black.
We almost cancelled our trip because of it. It made my husband and I quite uneasy. We met a couple at Hobbiton yesterday who had cancelled their trip here for that reason. We didn't want to be in the same place.
Leonie Black, 63, Wellington
Tania Kiwi-Seally.
I think we should have been informed rather than them just turning up undercover, I don't think it is good for our city at all.
