City Fitness members were told in an email last night that its Papatoetoe gym would be re-opened at 8am today after a deep clean because a Covid-positive case had been at the premises on two occasions.

But it was not to be.

Just half an hour later, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Auckland would be going back into alert level 3 lockdown from 6am today.

The City Fitness gym in Hunter's Plaza was the latest addition to list of locations of interest released by the Ministry of Health.

City Fitness said the person who tested positive had visited its Papatoetoe gym on Saturday, February 20 between 12.20pm and 1.45pm, and Friday, February 26 between 3.20pm and 4.40pm.

"We have been advised the Auckland Regional Health Board will contact directly anyone who was in the gym during that time and designated as a 'close' or 'casual plus' contact," it said.

They should get a Covid test and stay at home until a negative test result is received, and monitor for symptoms for the next 14 days.

The person was an older sibling of a Papatoetoe High School student, and their mother has also tested positive for Covid-19, the Ministry of Health confirmed last night.

Papatoetoe High School was due to reopen tomorrow after having to close for cleaning and contact tracing when the first student of the recent cases tested positive on 14 February.

The case developed symptoms on Tuesday, February 23 but is regarded as being potentially infectious from Sunday, February 21.

The person is a student at Manukau Institute of Technology (MIT), and works part-time for Kerry Logistics (Oceania) Limited at the Auckland Airport, for one day a week.

They were tested yesterday and the result was received in the afternoon.

Affected students at MIT students have been emailed.

The case had returned from overseas in December 2020 and completed 14 days in managed isolation with three negative tests.

Ministry officials do not believe the travel is linked to the case's current infection but it is highly likely to be linked to the current Auckland cluster.

Health officials are undertaking interviews to establish how the new case was infected.

Their sibling, a high school student, had returned three recent negative tests and was asymptomatic, the ministry said.

The household had five people and testing was undertaken last night and all were isolating, the ministry said.

Three preliminary results have so far come back negative, while one for the mother has come back positive. She is currently asymptomatic.

The genome sequencing was due back last night and expected to be released this morning. Director general of health Ashley Bloomfield said this would help identify and confirm a possible link to the current cluster.

Auckland is now back at alert level 3 since 6am and the rest of the country to level 2.

Locations of interest

The locations of interest are available on the Ministry of Health's website and are being updated progressively.

People who were at these locations of interest should isolate for 14 days and if symptoms develop, get tested.

Places that have been identified so far:

City Fitness in Hunter Plaza: Members have been advised by email directly from the gym of the time and day of interest.
Hunter Plaza: February 26, 2.55pm-5pm.
Burger King Highland Park: February 25, 8pm-9pm.
Your Health Pharmacy: February 23, 2.45pm-3.50pm.
Pak'nSave Manakau: February 21, 5.30pm-6.40pm.

Additional community testing centres are available in Auckland this weekend, with extended hours. These are in Ōtara, Botany, Pakuranga Heights, Balmoral, Henderson and Northcote.

In East Auckland, a CTC at Lloyd Elsmore Park, Pakuranga Heights, will be open from 8am-4pm today.

The Botany CTC at Golflands will be open from 9am-5pm.

The ministry is urging people to only call Healthline if they were potentially exposed.

• If you have symptoms of the coronavirus, call the NZ Covid-19 Healthline on 0800 358 5453 (+64 9 358 5453 for international SIMs) or call your GP - don't show up at a medical centre.