News of a 20-minute "encounter" between a managed isolation worker and an international returnee is deeply concerning, according to Opposition MPs.
Today Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins admitted there had been an encounter between the staffer and a returnee, who was supposed to be in isolation, at Auckland's Grand Millenium.
"I understand that the person delivered something to the room, was in the room for a period of time, that there may have been some communication between the guest and that person leading up for that," he says.
That communication is believed to have been done by passing notes, including on the back of face masks.
It led to the in-person encounter while the managed isolation worker was delivering a bottle of wine to the returnee.
They were caught after 20 minutes and Hipkins says the worker has been sacked.
Chris Bishop, National's Covid-19 response spokesperson, says the behaviour isn't acceptable.
"Some people will find it amusing but it is of great concern," he told 1 NEWS.
"It's incidents like that in Victoria [Australia] last year that led to one of the harshest lockdowns in the world."
One man explained he’d received an alert on his the tracer app to get tested.
An inquiry into the circumstances leading to the Victoria lockdown found among other issues, managed isolation security guards were having sexual encounters with people who were supposed to be isolating.
ACT leader David Seymour says similar behaviour here isn't acceptable.
"We can't afford these kinds of dalliances from people who are being paid to stop Covid."
There are more problems at Auckland's Pullman Hotel too, where the virus has been spreading.
Hipkins says they're investigating two additional cases, while officials are now actively tracking down 39 returnees still not accounted for.
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