Quarantine escapee on loose for 8 hours

AUCKLAND: A man who used bedsheets to escape from an Auckland quarantine hotel spent eight hours on the loose visiting different parts of the city.

The deportee escaped from the Ramada Hotel in Federal St late on Sunday and was captured on CCTV in Aotea Square at 1am on Monday, head of managed isolation Air Commodore Darryn Webb said yesterday.

‘‘The man has been viewed on CCTV walking in parts of Auckland from the central city to Newmarket, Epsom, Onehunga and Mt Albert before returning to the facility on Federal St.’’

A bedsheet ladder, used to descend four storeys from a hotel window, was discovered at 8.20am on Monday by onsite security.

The man arrived at the hotel’s front entrance about four minutes later.

‘‘Security improvements at the facility will be made and include the installation of additional CCTV cameras as well as extra lighting at the likely point of the man’s alleged exit,’’ Air Com Webb said.

Early indications suggested the man broke the security latch on a window to force his way out.

The man, who had been deported from Australia earlier this month, was taken into custody by police.

Police have reviewed a range of CCTV footage, interviewed the man, conducted a scene examination and spoken to staff.

However, the investigation was ongoing and there were still some gaps about where he went during his overnight excursion.

The man was deported from Australia on September 16, and tested negative on day three and day 12 of his stay. He has not been charged at this stage.

Public Health deemed the Covid19 risk to the public to be low.

‘‘While this sort of incident is extremely frustrating, it is rare,’’ Air Com Webb said.

He said appropriate action would be taken.

Managed Isolation Facilities Minister Megan Woods said yesterday the escape was not a failure of security.

The escape showed the person was determined, she said.

‘‘This isn’t something we anticipated, someone scaling down four storeys of a building using tiedtogether sheets, but as always we are reviewing the situation and any changes that need to be made to make sure this doesn’t happen in the future will be made.’’

Two new cases of Covid19 were reported in New Zealand yesterday. Both are imported cases in managed isolation facilities. — The New Zealand Herald