Covid-19: Floor of Westpac's Auckland head-office closed for deep cleaning after employee tests positive

October 23, 2020

Hardly any pub patrons used the Covid Tracer App on the night an infected customer visited, Dr Ashely Bloomfield revealed today.

Part of Westpac's Auckland head-office is undergoing deep cleaning after an employee who works there tested positive for Covid-19.

The news comes as there was one new case of community transmission announced in Auckland today.

Westpac provided 1 NEWS with the following statement:

"A non-customer facing employee, who works at our corporate head-office building in Auckland, has contracted Covid-19 from a close contact outside of Westpac.

"As soon as they became aware a member of their household had contact with a Covid-19 case, the employee self-isolated.

"The self-isolation started last Friday evening and official advice is that the staff member would not have become infectious until Tuesday of this week.

"However, as a precaution we are conducting a deep clean of the employee’s workspace and floor, and have instituted other standard Covid-19 procedures, including asking the employee’s colleagues to monitor their health.

"We’re in frequent contact with this employee and are offering full support."

The one new community case today is a household contact of a previously confirmed case in what Dr Ashley Bloomfield has described as the "marine employee cluster".

It comes after a Covid-19 positive person - connected to a port worker who tested positive for coronavirus - visited The Malt, a pub in Auckland’s Greenhithe, on Friday, October 16, from 7.30pm until 10pm.

All staff of The Malt have since returned negative tests, the pub's owner Kevin McVicar confirmed in a Facebook post today.

The man, who was unaware he was infectious at the time, also visited marine retailer Burnsco at Gulf Harbour twice on Sunday, October 18 - the first time at around 10.30am, then at around 3.30pm.

It follows two crew members on the Sofrana Surville who tested positive for Covid-19, while a third person received a weak positive, indicating an older infection. The ship is thought to be the source of recent community infections.

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