Health officials have launched a high-level review of the strategy allowing Covid-19 patients to recover at home following the deaths of two men in recent days.
A man in his 50s who had been recovering at his home in Auckland's Mt Eden died on Friday morning.
The man, who appeared to be having difficulty breathing, called emergency services around 6am but was unresponsive by the time help arrived.
Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson said the man had left the hospital earlier this week and that health workers had since made two checks on him.
"My understanding is that this particular person was admitted to hospital on the 1st of November and they discharged themselves from hospital on the 3rd," Robertson said during Friday's Covid-19 briefing.
"That was Wednesday of this week and that there was phone contact with him on both the 3rd and the 4th of November."
Robertson said health checks had also been made on a man in his 40s who died on Tuesday night as he recovered from Covid-19 in an apartment in Manukau, South Auckland.
On Friday, 1News observed a courier attempting to deliver a care package from the Auckland DHB to the home of the Mt Eden man who died.
It's unclear what the care package contained or whether the man had already received an oximeter – a device that enables home isolating patients to monitor their oxygen levels - before his death.
The Ministry of Health says the review, announced on Friday, will determine if any adjustments need to be made to the current home isolation system.
The deaths of the two men have been referred to the Coroner.
SHARE ME