Auckland rest home worker tests positive for Covid-19

A staff member at St Margaret's Hospital and Rest Home, in West Auckland, has tested positive for Covid-19.

Chief executive Carriann Hall told 1 NEWS the staff member worked in the facility's dementia unit, and the positive result was confirmed by Auckland Regional Public Health late last night.

"This staff member is a household contact of a confirmed Covid-19 case and went into precautionary self-isolation before undertaking their Covid-19 test and subsequently testing positive," she said.

The staff member was now in MIQ.

They had received their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

"Staff members who have been working closely with the positive staff member have also gone into self-isolation and will be tested."

All residents in the dementia ward were being tested today by a mobile testing team. Other residents would be able to be tested if they wanted.

"We have sufficient PPE supplies and staff levels to ensure we can continue providing the best quality care we can," Hall said.

The facility was at the centre of an outbreak last year, in which three people died.

Three nurses working at Waitakere Hospital, and looking after nine rest home residents there, also caught Covid-19, prompting the Waitematā DHB to launch an investigation that found issues with PPE.

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