Wellington’s Floriditas restaurant closed its doors today after a recently-confirmed Covid-19 case from Sydney visited on Saturday.
It comes as the Wellington region is set to move to Covid-19 Alert Level 2 from 6pm today, while the rest of New Zealand remains at Alert Level 1.
Hayden McMillan, Floriditas co-owner, said the Ministry of Health called him at 10:45am advising him that the restaurant was a location of interest.
He said all Floriditas staff that were working during the time of the Covid-19 case's visit have gone into isolation.
“They’re all trying to get testing now which is proving problematic because I think half of Wellington is trying to get tested,” McMillan said.
At least 14 exposure sites have been identified across Wellington, including Te Papa Museum, a pharmacy, a supermarket, and several restaurants.
“It’s definitely a speed bump for us,” McMillan said.
“In hindsight, Auckland’s been through this like twice now, I guess Wellington gets its turn."
The Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said the infected traveller, as well as one of his main close contacts, had been diligently using the Ministry of Health's Covid-19 tracer app, allowing for most of the locations he visited to be identified promptly.
“Yeah, it’s concerning but I think we all just have to try and keep a positive mind frame,” McMillan said.
SHARE ME