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Jet Park Hotel.
Photo: RNZ / Katie Todd
They ve succeeded in keeping more than 900 Covid-19 cases out of the community - embracing PPE, teamwork and sweet treats hurled through windows during their 15 months on the frontline.
The innocuous family-owned hotel nestled off the main road to Auckland Airport boasts a restaurant, lounge bar, pool and lush green outdoor spaces, yet Property and Assets manager Ashley Schierhout said it now has some of the country s most reluctant people checking in. You see people arriving and they are scared, some of them, arriving at a quarantine facility and that stigmatism, he said. I think after day two or three it s a complete change of heart. They suddenly realise that we re not treating them like patients, we re treating them like guests.
Aaron Goile13:00, May 25 2021
NZ CRICKET
Black Cap Tim Seifert opens up on his Covid-19 ordeal in India.
A tearful Tim Seifert has opened up on his Covid-19 ordeal, with the Black Caps wicketkeeper admitting he feared the worst during a “scary” stint in India. The 26-year-old is now back in New Zealand, nearing the halfway point of his mandatory 14-day managed isolation at Auckland’s Jet Park Hotel, having arrived at 2am last Thursday. He is fit and well, as he has been through much of his time since recording a positive coronavirus test earlier this month. But in speaking to media for the first time since, on a Zoom call on Tuesday, it is clear just how much of an emotional toll the last few weeks have had on him.
What is wastewater testing for Covid-19?
Wastewater testing for Covid-19 first started in April 2020, with the aim of giving an early warning of outbreaks or an additional surveillance tool. The science has been developed since then, with a test in November 2020. The number of sites has steadily expanded and ESR now does regular wastewater testing across sites in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Rotorua, Hamilton and Queenstown. The samples are processed in ESR s laboratory in Wellington, and checked for accuracy – including adding a cat coronavirus and a mouse norovirus to every sample as controls.
RYAN ANDERSON/Stuff
Anyone who has Covid-19 symptoms is being urged to get tested, particularly those who live in the Wellington region.