A managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) guest with COVID-19 has been transferred from an Auckland quarantine facility to hospital.
Responding to a query about the guest, a spokesperson for the Counties Manukau DHB (CMDHB) on Friday told Newshub "we currently have two patients from managed isolation in the hospital", with both in a stable condition.
However the Ministry of Health says just one person is in Middlemore - the UN worker from Fiji, who remains in intensive care - while another was transferred from the Jet Park Hotel to Auckland City Hospital.
The CMDHB has since admitted it gave Newshub incorrect information, clarifying that the two patients it was referring to were admitted to Middlemore Hospital direct from the airport this week - not from MIQ facilities, as it'd previously stated.
Neither patient was admitted as a result of any coronavirus-related illness.
"Any patient from the airport accepted by the hospital (outside of those coming from within the recognised travel bubble), regardless of the reason for their admission, is considered COVID-exposed and is subject to the same rigorous infection prevention and control measures that a COVID-positive patient would be," a spokesperson said.
Newshub understands the person taken to hospital on Thursday from the Jet Park Hotel was displaying acute COVID-19 symptoms and was taken away from the facility in an ambulance.
However the personal protective equipment (PPE) used by a health worker during this transfer was found to have failed to "fully meet agreed protocols".
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"While the risk has been assessed as low, as a precautionary measure the health worker has now been classified as a casual contact and has been asked to monitor symptoms," a ministry spokesperson said.
"They will be automatically tested in seven days' time."
The ministry says hospitals regularly treat people in MIQ facilities, and assured Kiwis there are "appropriate isolation and infection prevention and control plans" in place at all the metro-DHB hospitals to accommodate these patients.
"Our hospitals remain safe for patients, visitors and staff," they said.
On Friday afternoon, the ministry announced there was one new case of COVID-19 in MIQ - a person from the United Arab Emirates who arrived in New Zealand on Wednesday.
A historical case was also identified - a person from the UK who landed in Auckland on July 26 via the UAE.
There are no new cases in the community.
"Five previously reported cases have now recovered, with the number of active cases in New Zealand standing at 25," the ministry reported.
"Our total number of confirmed cases is 2524. Two cases reported on Wednesday and Thursday respectively have been reclassified as 'under investigation'. These have been removed from our count of total confirmed cases."
