An Auckland Naval barracks accommodating personnel working in managed isolation facilities is in full lockdown after Covid-19 was found in its wastewater, Stuff has learned
The facility is next to Devonport, where the first positive case emerged in the current community outbreak of the Delta strain.
About 60 officers and Naval ratings housed at the Navy accommodation at Narrow Neck on Auckland’s North Shore are confined to the facility.
They are not working at managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) facilities while they isolate and await test results.
The decision to confine the personnel to their quarters in Vauxhall Rd came after wastewater from the facility tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday following a sample on Monday, August 23.
A Defence spokesman said testing of wastewater at the facility, a former Naval officer training school next to the historic Fort Takapuna, began because the current Covid Delta outbreak first came to light in Devonport, which borders Narrow Neck.
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Access to the facility is restricted and a security guard is stationed outside.
Tests of 54 junior officers and ratings have come back negative but as of Sunday, eight results were yet to come back, the spokesman said.
A second wastewater test on Thursday was negative for Covid-19, he said.
“All personnel at Narrow Neck will remain in isolation in accordance with Ministry of Health protocols”.
To cover the duties of sailors and officers who were serving in MIQ facilities as part of Operation Protect, a Defence contribution to the Covid-19 response, the Navy has called in personnel who were on reserve standby, the spokesman said.
Naval personnel working in MIQ facilities were moved to Narrow Neck in November after a uniformed Defence Force member caught coronavirus at the Jet Park Hotel.
The service members were ordered to observe alert level 3 lockdown precautions at the facility, according to an email sent in November obtained by Stuff. They were allowed to come and go from the facility while off duty.
