One of the 24 new people confirmed as having Covid-19 on Sunday is a man remanded into custody at Mt Eden Corrections Facility in Auckland on Friday night.
The man was thought to have been in the Firth of Thames area before his arrest and was travelling with one other person who is now in isolation and is due to be tested on Sunday, Director of Public Health Caroline McElnay said in the 1pm briefing.
The man was taken into custody for "failing to appear" in the Counties Manukau area which is under Alert Level 4 restrictions. As a consequence, four police staff are now isolating after being in contact with the man.
The man is in a quarantine unit in the prison, Corrections chief custodial officer Neil Beales confirmed.
Corrections have advised that as Mt Eden prison is closed to all visitors, only essential staff were on site. Five Corrections staff and seven prisoners have been identified as contacts and are now isolating.
One of the prisoners was his cellmate.
Ministry of Justice Chief Operating Officer Carl Crafar said in a statement the man appeared at the Manukau District Court briefly at midday on Friday.
"Based on guidance from the Ministry of Health, the four people who were in the courtroom with the defendant are self-isolating and have been advised to get tested," Crafar said.
"Manukau District Court will open as usual on Monday after being deep cleaned over the weekend."
McElnay said the case, his travelling companion and all contacts have been “helpful and cooperative” with health authorities.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said “extraordinarily rigorous” protocols were key in identifying the case.
“Corrections treat in level 3 and 4 new incoming prisoners as they would an individual coming in at our border.
“They are tested at day 0, they continue to have tests through to day 12, they wear masks and staff wear PPE and they work through a process to ensure they are Covid-free before they are integrated more fully into the prison environment.”
Ardern said although there was not a “formal link,” there was a tentative link in relation to the case and “more work is being done just to sure that up”.
They had a very good idea where he had been because he was being electronically monitored while on parole.
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