Hamilton District Court was locked down after a managed isolation worker displaying Covid-19 symptoms reportedly showed up there on Wednesday.
Around two hours after the lockdown began, people started being let out of the district courthouse.
One woman said those inside were told they were casual contacts of an unconfirmed Covid case.
“Someone with symptoms who works at an isolation facility," said the woman, who only wanted to be known as Kate.
However, as they were only casual contacts, they did not need to quarantine at home.
Both Hamilton police and the New Zealand Police national media team referred Stuff enquiries about the lockdown to the Ministry of Justice. Ministry representatives were not able to respond.
People arriving at the courthouse after 9.30am on Wednesday were told that it was in lockdown and that no-one was allowed “in or out”.
People, including lawyers, seen looking out of the upstairs windows of the courthouse.
However, court staff started to let people out of the building around 11.20am.
At least 30 people were seen leaving, and those who spoke to media said they did not have to get a Covid test or isolate further.
Willy Grimes, who was let out of the court around 11.30am, had been told more than 50 people had been shut inside.
Some were getting quite agitated, though they knew it wasn’t the security guards’ fault, he said.
One lady didn’t have much left in her baby’s bottle and had been getting worried, he said.
Another woman outside said she was the first person turned away, around 9.20am.
Her son had gone in for a 9.30am matter but by the time she parked the car she was told “we’re in lockdown and you can’t come in”.
At that stage, security staffers didn’t know why, she said.
Her son then had to stay inside the building, leaving her waiting outside to see what would happen, though she eventually went home.
There are currently 61 active cases of COVID-19 in New Zealand, all found in managed isolation.
On Tuesday, six new cases of Covid-19 were reported in managed isolation.
Of the new cases, two arrived from the United Kingdom, one from the United States, one from Switzerland, one from South Africa and one from India.
