Rules broken for ‘love’

MIQ staffer sacked after he was caught in returnee’s bedroom

The managed isolation staffer caught in a returnee’s bedroom slipped handwritten notes into her groceries and wrote his number on a facemask.

The worker at the Grand Millennium hotel in Auckland then delivered a bottle of wine the guest had ordered to her room.

After the staffer didn’t promptly return from the delivery the hotel’s security manager went to the woman’s room to follow up and interrupted the forbidden rendezvous.

The man was in the hotel room for about 20 minutes.

Head of MIQ Brigadier Jim Bliss said that after the January 7 incident was discovered the guest admitted the worker had put notes in her groceries and produced a face mask with a handwritten message and a phone number.

The staffer was sacked and he and the guest had formal police warnings. Both have returned negative Covid tests and public health officials have deemed the risk low to negligible.

Bliss said the security system worked “as it should have” and the measures in place meant the encounter was uncovered quickly.

But he said the actions of the pair were “incredibly irresponsible and extremely disappointing”.

“There is absolutely no room for complacency for those inside our managed isolation and quarantine facilities,” he said.

“The rules are very clear — people staying in MIQ facilities must remain physically distant from each other, and from staff members, at all times.”

He was not aware of any other similar interactions.

Bliss said the actions of the sacked hotel worker were not reflective of the 4000 people working across New Zealand’s 32 MIQ facilities.

“They do a fantastic job. Every day they selflessly put themselves between us and this virus.”

Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins also called the worker’s actions “unacceptable” and said he had let his colleagues down. He also thanked the thousands of border staff for their efforts and said Kiwis could not keep Covid out without them.

“They are feeling an enormous amount of pressure at the moment. They are very diligent and conscientious. I think one person has let them down here and that’s unacceptable.”

The serious breach of the rules is similar to incidents in Melbourne where security guards at isolation facilities slept with guests and led to a widespread outbreak of Covid-19.