Whanganui DHB to have SIQ facilities in four regional locations

The Whanganui DHB are refusing to divulge details on its self-isolation plan for local Covid case, just days out from the opening of the Auckland floodgates. Photo / Bevan Conley

The Whanganui District Health Board is planning to set up four self-isolation and quarantine hubs in towns throughout the region.

But the DHB chose not to say exactly where SIQ facilities would be in the region, with concerns around the privacy and security of people being kept there.

The health board wants to be able to host people who contract Covid-19 in SIQ sites in Bulls, Marton, Taihape and Waimarino.

The progress for making each of these facilities operational is not known.

One person who has tested positive for Covid-19 was being kept at a Whanganui-based facility run by the DHB.

The DHB would not say exactly what type of facilities are being used for quarantine.

Motels have typically been the main facility for quarantining in New Zealand's largest cities since the start of the pandemic.

Whanganui DHB acting chief executive Graham Dyer didn't rule out using motels for quarantining, saying a number of options were on the table.

Dyer said revealing the type of facility and where it was could identify their exact locations.

"We're just trying to stay away from it because if we say it's a motel in Marton, for example, there's probably only two," Dyer said.

Last month, the Chronicle reported that as of November 8, the DHB had not yet finalised its official self-isolation plan, including whether or not it then had facilities where a case could isolate.