Auckland gym closes after one of its members attends class days after contact with two women who tested positive for Covid-19

Brian from New Lynn

An Auckland gym has posted a warning to its Facebook page, letting people know one of its members was a close contact of the two positive Covid-19 cases who recently drove from Auckland to Wellington on an isolation exemption before they were tested for the virus. Lioness - The Gym For Women's Facebook page, located in Highland Park, features a lengthy post from gym management outlining what happened. "The 2 ladies from UK that are Covid-19 confirmed are friends with one of our members. "Our member was in contact with the 2 girls last Saturday. The member of our Gym did not know that the girls were positive until yesterday afternoon when she has called me straight away. "On Saturday she loaned the car to the 2 girls to drive down to Wellington for the funeral. Initially the car was dropped to the hotel, however apparently the 2 girls got lost and my member had to meet with them to give them instructions. "As soon as the 2 girls arrived to Wellington they have been asked to get tested again and yesterday morning the results came positive. "Since Saturday, after her contact with the 2 girls, our gym member did not visit the facility until yesterday morning when she came for her training session with myself and stayed back for our group classes. "Fortunate enough we still have the 2m mark down in our class studio, however my training sessions was hands on," the post reads. It goes on to say that after many phone calls to the Ministry of Health with differing advice, the gym owner was told she didn't have to be tested for Covid-19 until the results came back from the gym member who attended the class there, nor stop her daily routine.
However, the gym owner decided to shut down the facility until the all clear has been given and self-isolate rather than risk it. It comes as the Ministry of Health confirmed the two women had in fact had two close contacts on their drive down to Wellington, when the Government had previously said they did not. "Upon leaving the Novotel in a private vehicle provided by friends, the women got lost on the Auckland motorway system," the Ministry of Health said in a statement. "On realising this they phoned the same friends who supplied the vehicle, who met and guided them to the correct motorway so they could go in the right direction. As part of this the pair were in limited physical contact with the two friends for approximately five minutes. "These two people have been contacted by local health authorities for a health check. Both had already had a test for Covid-19 once they heard of the positive results and are in self isolation." National MP alleges two women who tested positive for Covid-19 had close contacts on drive from Auckland to Wellington. Michael Woodhouse says the women gave “Good Samaritans” a hug and a kiss when they helped with directions. "It is important to remember that the two women were distressed at the time by the sudden death of their family member. "It is not uncommon for information and details to evolve, including details being missed during case interviews and contact tracing where there is heightened emotion, intense grief and stress. "The information was gathered as part of a second interview conducted by the local public health unit on Tuesday evening and subsequent interviews on Wednesday. "This information was communicated to the Ministry of Health on the afternoon of Wednesday 17 June."
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