A wahine staying in managed isolation at the same hotel where two women with Covid-19 stayed, says she and others there are fed up with a lack of information
The two women had been staying at the Novotel in Ellerslie, Auckland but were granted leave to attend a funeral despite showing symptoms.
Tyler Auld of Te Whānau-a-Apanui and Ngāti Maniapoto arrived from Australia and supposedly has only four days left in isolation at the hotel but the information given to her has not specified whether she'll be allowed to leave.
“There hasn’t been any confirmation that we have to stay longer," she says.
After news broke that the two women had Covid-19 on Tuesday, a letter was sent to people staying at the hotel about getting tested.
“It didn’t specify that we had to undergo it but it also didn’t specify that we didn’t and we had the testing.”
More restrictions
Auld says she was tested by a nurse on Tuesday in her hotel room and was told she would get results in 24 hours but, after 48 hours, she still hasn’t received the results.
“They pretty much said that if you had Covid-19 you would know because you would have to be transported to a new facility. I still haven’t heard. I don’t know if the test results are in. I don’t know if they’re delayed. I don’t know what’s happening there," she says.
She says restrictions for guests have increased since Tuesday and they're only allowed outside 15 minutes a day, which she says is not enough time to have sunlight, fresh air and exercise.
“I have been here for 10 days and it's already mentally exhausting being cooped up in a room and not having that freedom and now we've had even more freedom taken away because of this situation ... because someone decided it was a good idea to let someone out with symptoms, knowing they had symptoms.”
Auld says she’s spoken to another person staying at the hotel who also thinks the information is unclear.
“I imagine I’m not the only one and there are families here, so they would be annoyed too.”
Waiting for negative results
Health director-general Dr Ashley Bloomfield said yesterday that everybody in quarantine at the Novotel is being treated as if they are close contacts who have potentially been exposed.
“We are getting them all tested and isolated until a negative result is received,” he says.
Other actions taken include ensuring no one leaves a managed isolation facility without having had a negative Covid-19 test, including those on compassionate grounds, as well as ensuring that all people in isolation are tested on days three and 12 of the quarantine.
Auld says she looks forward to leaving the hotel so she can travel to Wellington to visit her whānau.