August 20, 2020
Rydges COVID theory gets a lift
Health authorities now suspect a maintenance worker at the Rydges Hotel caught COVID-19 in a lift.
Director General Ashley Bloomfield says the worker used the lift on July 31 was a matter of minutes after a COVID-positive returnee from the United States.
There were five new cases confirmed today, four linked to the Auckland cluster and one case now in Waikato Hospital linked to the Tokoroa cases.
Health Minister Chris Hipkins asked Aucklanders to stay in your bubbles, don’t go out unless you have to, and please wear a mask if you do have to go out.
Asked about the National Party’s promise to create a specialist border agency, Mr Hipkins said he did not see the need to create a new bureaucracy.
He also poured cold water on its demand returnees be tested three days before they fly to New Zealand, saying there are practical challenges around the time it took to get tests back in various countries, and there was also a risk people could get infected during the journey.
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