Statement from Joint Head of MIQ Brigadier Rose King

At around 5pm on Thursday 4 November a COVID-19 positive community case was being transported to the Holiday Inn Managed Isolation facility to begin their stay. Upon exiting the shuttle at the entrance of the facility they absconded on foot out of the open gate.

They were observed by Police and MIQ Security the entire time and did not come in contact with anyone. They were apprehended by Police around 100 metres down the road approx. 5 minutes later. They were immediately returned to the facility.

A security guard is now stationed outside this individual’s room. Welfare support is being provided.

The Holiday Inn Auckland Airport Hotel is being used for quarantine purposes for positive community cases. It has 237 quarantine rooms. There are currently 109 community cases there, occupying 64 rooms.

In a second incident – on Friday 5 November at around 11.45am a COVID-19 positive community case absconded from the Amohia Community Isolation Quarantine facility in Hamilton (Distinction Hamilton) by removing a section of perimeter fencing. They were observed by MIQ Security during this time. They absconded in a waiting car and were apprehended a short distance away by Police a few minutes later. They are currently in Police custody.

The individual arrived at the facility on 27 October and was due to be released on 9 November, they were on day 8 of their stay.

The Amohia is being used for quarantine purposes for positive Waikato community cases. The facility has 110 rooms. There are currently 17 community cases there, occupying 16 rooms.

As I have said previously, every single event like this is extremely disappointing to me and they are all taken very seriously. But our facilities aren’t prisons and our staff aren’t prison guards. People don’t come into our facilities because they've broken the law, they come in because unfortunately they are community cases that have tested positive.

It is hard to keep people in a facility if they are determined to leave. MIQ staff work really hard to ensure the safety and comfort of all members of our community currently staying at our facilities. Most recent absconders were caught very quickly thanks to our staff and our security measures.

There are rules in place for every single returnee from overseas and now the community cases, and we expect people to follow these during their stay in managed isolation or quarantine. The overwhelming majority do their part to keep New Zealand safe. Deliberate breaches like this can put the wider community at risk.

There have been over 186,000 people through managed isolation and quarantine with 18 incidents involving 24 people absconding (including these incidents).

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