‘She’ll be right’ could wreck Covid-19 gains

An Auckland hotel guest in managed isolation says a slack ‘‘she’ll be right’’ attitude to hygiene and sanitation could jeopardise gains New Zealand has made in the fight against Covid-19.

The guest, a sanitation expert, said he was one of about 120 people who recently arrived from the Philippines, but claims his concerns were dismissed at the hotel in Auckland.

As New Zealand moves to alert level 1, strong quarantine measures will probably be pivotal to keeping coronavirus out of the community.

The Crowne Plaza guest said he was shocked at what he felt was a casual attitude after New Zealand made strenuous efforts to fight coronavirus during lockdown.

‘‘We’re rubbing shoulders with either workers or the general public wherever we go,’’ the guest said.

The guest said he and others in managed isolation were checked out and had room numbers recorded when embarking on walks.

‘‘We can simply refuse to walk . . . But to be fair when you sit in a hotel room for 24 hours, you really want to head outside.’’

The guest said the prevalent attitude seemed to be: ‘‘Let’s not sanitise the umbrellas, let’s not sanitise the lift buttons, let’s not sanitise all the touching points.’’

He said a lack of rigorous hygiene measures could ‘‘destroy’’ New Zealanders’ hard work.

He requested anonymity, because, he said: ‘‘You raise a problem and you just get singled out like a child, and told you’re arrogant.’’

The Ministry of Health is responsible for overseeing managed isolation and quarantine. Ministry statistics published last week showed 2625 of the 2760 guests in quarantine or managed isolation nationwide were in Auckland.

Stuff asked the ministry questions including whether guests were receiving temperature checks, in line with World Health Organisation advice. The ministry acknowledged border protection was especially critical when domestic cases were at low levels.

‘‘Guests in a managed isolation facility receive health checks, including temperature checks, a minimum of every three days,’’ a ministry spokeswoman said.

The ministry said walking routes were carefully chosen to avoid high pedestrian areas and communal areas in managed isolation hotels were cleaned frequently, every day.

The guest was happy the ministry responded to his concerns promptly, but said stringent health guidelines were not always being practised.