All but 28 of the now 344 returnees at Auckland’s Grand Mercure managed isolation facility have tested negative for Covid-19 as the investigation into the Day 12 case at the facility continues.
The group of returnees has grown from 272 yesterday, as it includes the last returnees who needed additional monitoring to leave the hotel, the Ministry of Health said today.
“The assessment was that this additional step was needed until yesterday, and it has now been lifted for anyone leaving the facility from today,” the ministry said.
As of 9am, 340 of the 344 returnees to have left the Grand Mercure have been contacted.
Of those, 315 have returned negative results, one returned a positive result which is classified as a historical infection (and therefore not infectious) on the basis of further testing and serology results.
Authorities are awaiting results for 28 people.
The update into the Grand Mercure investigation comes as there were two new Covid-19 cases recorded in managed isolation today and none in the community.
Both cases travelled together from India via the UAE on the same flight as 10 of yesterday’s cases and arrived in New Zealand on Saturday.
They tested positive during routine day one testing.
“The Ministry does not consider these recent cases from India as entirely unexpected, given India is reporting the highest number of daily Covid-19 cases worldwide at present,” they said in a statement.
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