Infected man takes selfies at supermarket after escaping quarantine
A man who has tested positive to coronavirus has managed to escape hotel quarantine before taking a number of selfies in a supermarket.
The man, who hasn’t been named, escaped from quarantine in Auckland on Tuesday night.
He has been in quarantine after arriving from New Delhi, India, on July 3.
The minister in charge of managed isolation and quarantine, Megan Woods, told Radio New Zealand’s Checkpoint program the man took advantage as security were replacing fences in the smoking area.
Security tried to catch him but he got away to a Countdown supermarket where he walked in the health and beauty aisle.
He also purchased a number of items.
“He had a phone with him, and he was taking photos with the phone.... Yes selfies, that's right,” Ms Woods told RNZ.
The man then returned to the hotel.
He faces a A$3700 fine or six months in jail.
Police are looking through CCTV to see if he went anywhere else.
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"We take any breach of the COVID-19 rules very seriously. Wilfully leaving our facilities will not be tolerated, and the appropriate action will be taken," Air Commodore Darryn Webb, the head of managed isolation and quarantine, said.
New Zealand currently has 23 active cases of the coronavirus, all from returning New Zealanders who have to undergo 14 days of mandatory isolation at quarantine facilities. There is no known community transmission yet.
with Reuters
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