A number of locations of interest, that are owned or managed by Auckland Council, have been identified by the Ministry of Health as places visited by people with confirmed cases of COVID-19.
The council’s General Manager of Health Safety and Wellbeing, and Chair of our Crisis Management Team for this COVID-19 response, Paul Robertson says the council is placing the safety and wellbeing of our people and communities at the forefront of our response.
“Council sites being locations of interest is inevitable in a big, busy city and we expect to see more sites identified.
“Our team is keeping a close eye on the Ministry of Health’s list and information from our people.
“The council’s teams are working closely with the Ministry of Health contact tracers and health authorities when one of our sites is identified. They share any necessary information about bookings, users or council employees that is required.
“The Ministry of Health is the lead agency in this response, and we are following their guidance,” says Paul.
Visit the Ministry of Health’s website for the most up-to-date locations of interest. If a location you have visited is on the list, this means that someone with COVID-19 or closely connected to a COVID-19 case has visited this site.
Advice for people who have visited a site named on the Ministry’s website during the identified times includes:
- get a test immediately
- self-isolate and call Healthline on 0800 358 5453
- if you were not at the location of interest at the relevant time, you do not need to be tested.
- find out more on the Ministry of Health’s website.
Will the council be supplying information about my visit to the Ministry of Health?
The council takes extreme care with personal information and will only supply information that the appropriate agencies are able to request by law. We may have limited information about people that have visited our pools, leisure centres and libraries, and those that have booked our community venues, and will provide this to the contact tracing team if required. We do not hold information about visits to our parks and open spaces.
All sites have QR codes for the government’s NZ COVID Tracer App and all visitors to our facilities should have scanned in. This information is not held by the council. If you have scanned in at a council site that has been identified as a location of interest, you will receive a contact tracing notification from the Ministry of Health team.
Will the council be contacting me about my visit to a pool, leisure centre, library or community venue?
Not necessarily. The Ministry of Health’s contact tracing team are best placed to contact affected individuals or provide advice – you can phone Healthline on 0800 358 5453.
Are any Auckland Council employees identified as confirmed cases or close contacts?
We can’t share personal information about our people but assure Aucklanders that we have a very good process in place to support all of our teams, including our frontline staff that regularly interact with the public.
There are many thousands of people that work across the Auckland Council group and it is highly likely that some of our people, through the work that they do and their families, friends and home lives, will be connected to a case. If any council employees are affected, they will follow all Ministry of Health processes and guidance.
