KAPITI COAST RETIREMENT VILLAGE RESIDENT DIES

A resident of a Ka¯ piti Coast retirement village has died from Covid-19.

The man and his wife became unwell during four days of self-isolation at their apartment at Raumati’s Coastal Villas following a trip to Australia and were admitted to Wellington Hospital on March 22.

The man died in Wellington Hospital on Monday, Metlifecare chief executive Glen Sowry said in a statement.

‘‘When we learned of the situation, we strictly followed the Ministry of Health guidelines, including full cooperation with public health officials. We also locked down the eight-unit apartment building where he resided while contact tracing was completed.

‘‘Public Health advised that they do not believe any staff or residents were in close contact with the resident.

‘‘No-one else in the village, outside the resident’s home, has tested positive for Covid-19. There have been no other positive tests at any other Metlifecare villages or care homes.

‘‘Our thoughts are with his family and our priority now is to offer them and our residents our fullest support.

‘‘As always, our primary concern is for the health and wellbeing of every resident in our villages and the staff who serve them.

‘‘This tragic event has reinforced our commitment to total vigilance in following Government guidelines. Like the rest of New Zealand, all our villages are now abiding by the restrictions of alert level four. This means we are not allowing visitors into the village and . . . we are supporting all residents to remain in their own homes through the provision of essential services.’’

The couple were taken to hospital by paramedics, Sowry said on March 23.

The pair lived in a small apartment building with eight residents, and noone else had fallen ill.

‘‘As soon as we became aware of the situation, we undertook a deep clean and sanitisation of all communal spaces throughout the village and relevant buildings, and we stopped access in and out of the building that the affected residents lived in,’’ Sowry said.

Metlifecare did not believe any of its staff had come into contact with the couple during their self-isolation.