Barbers joins list of Wellington Covid-19 exposure sites

June 23, 2021
Wellington (file picture).

Nineteen locations of interest in Wellington have now been identified, after an Australian tourist tested positive for Covid-19 after visiting over the weekend.

The locations include a hotel, a pharmacy, Te Papa, a bar, cafes, a supermarket, bookstore, and the Weta Cave shop. 

Prince Barbers on Featherston St is the latest location to be added to the list.

This evening the Ministry of Health says officials have determined that only those seated in the foodcourt at Wellington Airport between 8.30am and 9.55am on Monday 21 June need to stay at home, get a test around Day 5 after last exposure and remain at home until negative test result is received.

All other people at Wellington Airport between 8.30am and 10.30am on Monday 21 June should self-monitor for Covid symptoms for 14 days. If symptoms develop, get tested and stay at home until negative test result is received.  

Thousands of people have undergone tests for the virus in the capital.

Click here for the full list of locations

Meanwhile Floriditas Cafe shared the news on social media, stating the infected case had visited their Cuba Street venue on Saturday between 12.45pm and 4pm. 

"We are closing the restaurant for a deep clean, and fully complying with the guidelines set by the Ministry," it shared on Instagram. 

"We apologise for the inconvenience, but it's critically important for us, and for Wellington, and for NZ as a whole that everyone does their part." 

Unichem Wellington Central Pharmacy on Lambton Quay.

All staff who had been working at the cafe at the time the infected person visited have been told to self-isolate. 

Highwater Eatery on Cuba St, Pickle and Pie Cafe, The Weta Cave Shop, The Lido cafe, Unity Books, Countdown Cable Lane, One Red Dog are new locations of interest. 

There's confusion among locals and tourists about whether the national museum is open or not.

Despite a tweet shared this morning announcing its closure, Te Papa only recently put up a sign relating to the positive case.

It shared the Tourism New Zealand event scheduled to be held at the museum had been postponed, with no acknowledgment that Te Papa itself would be shut. 

"Due to recent Covid-19 announcements, we have had to postpone the Tourism NZ Roadshow. Details on a future date for the event will be forthcoming," the sign said. 

Jack Hackett's Bar.

Several people told 1 NEWS the lack of communication is "disappointing" and needs to improve. 

One father planning to visit with his whānau, said a staff member over the phone had said earlier today that the museum was open. 

The recently confirmed case travelled from Sydney to Wellington and back again .

Jack Hackett's bar manager Cushla Mathie said they are in the process of arranging a deep clean after the infected case visited the venue on Saturday. 

Te Papa Tongarewa, New Zealand's national museum.

She told 1 NEWS they aren't sure when they will be able to reopen as staff required to get tested won't be allowed to return to work until they return a negative result. 

Unichem Wellington Central Pharmacy will be closed until midday at this stage, a spokesperson said. 

In the meantime, staff will be on hand to take prescriptions and deliver them as "the continuation of the health service is important". 

The spokesperson told 1 NEWS the pharmacy is cleaned to a high standard on a regular basis but will be cleaned again this morning as a precaution. 

They say the pharmacy had been quiet on the Saturday when visited by the positive case. 

Unichem is now looking through its database to see if there's any further information about what the person did while at the pharmacy under directions from the DHB. 

Victoria University says the Ministry of Health has advised the case also visited the Adam Art Gallery on its Kelburn Campus at about 12.30pm on June 20 for about 40 minutes.

The gallery has been closed until further notice while it undergoes a deep clean.

The university says “very few” people were in the gallery at the time and the staff member who was on duty at the time is isolating at home.

The university is investigating to see if the infected traveller visited any other parts of the campus.

The gallery is yet to be added to the locations of interest, with Dr Bloomfield explaining this afternoon that when very few people are at a visited location, it is not added to the locations of interest. Instead workers at sites are contacted through their employers.

The Director General of Health joined Breakfast after news that four close contacts had been identified in New Zealand’s capital.

The person arrived just after midnight on Saturday before flying back to Sydney just after 10am on Monday morning, NSW Health confirmed yesterday evening. They subsequently tested positive in New South Wales.

Four close contacts have been identified in relation to the man's movements while in Wellington itself.

SHARE ME

More Stories