Patients, staff being treated as close contacts of case

AUCKLAND: All patients and staff working in two affected Middlemore Hospital wards are being regarded as close contacts of a patient with Covid19.

The patient, who later tested positive for Covid19, arrived at the South Auckland hospital at 5pm on Saturday evening, with atypical coronavirus symptoms.

The patient tested positive on Sunday and was immediately moved to the respiratory ward dedicated to Covid patients, a Counties Manukau Health spokesman said yesterday afternoon.

Auckland Regional Public Health Service (ARPHS) was undertaking a case investigation to identify and isolate close contacts.

‘‘All patients and staff working in the two affected wards between 6.30am and 4.30pm on Sunday, 5 September are currently being classed as close contacts until we have done further investigations,’’ Counties Manukau Health said.

Earlier, it was reported a man at Middlemore tested positive for Covid19, and it was understood he shared a room with three others in the Edmund Hillary

Block surgical ward.

Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson said the Covidpositive person in Middlemore entered the hospital on an unrelated matter.

A second situation emerged yesterday where a sick patient was put in the same room as a Covid19 positive person — this time at Waitakere Hospital.

However, Waitemata District Health Board insists there was no exposure and no transmission of the virus in the West Auckland case.

A 67yearold Auckland man was told to selfisolate and get tested after he spent a night in the emergency department at Waitakere Hospital with a man who had Covid on August 19 — just a few days after the country went into a snap lockdown. —