Locations of interest: Locations located in Auckland, Rotorua,

Author: NZ Herald,
Publish Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2022, 4:09PM

The race to contain an Omicron outbreak is on while all customers who visited a Half Moon Bay cafe on Tuesday are now considered close contacts to an Omicron Covid-19 case.

Customers who dined outside at the Ara-Tai Cafe in Half Moon Bay are now considered close contacts. The café was added to the location of interest list last night; however, customers outside have now been identified as close contacts of an Omicron case.

The Omicron case visited the case between 12.30pm and 2pm on Tuesday

"This is linked to an Omicron case. You're a close contact if you were seated outside," the ministry said.

"Self-isolate, test immediately and on day 5 after you were exposed at this location. Further isolation and testing requirements will be provided by Public Health."

Meanwhile, the Rotorua Citizens Club is the most recent location of interest to be added to the ever-growing list.

The Ministry of Health says anyone who was at the club on Saturday between 9am and 4pm must self-isolate and test immediately.

The Ara-Tai Cafe is located in Auckland's Half Moon Bay. Photo / Jed Bradley

They also must self-isolate and get tested on day 5.

As of this morning, a total of 88 contacts have been identified in relation to the MIQ border worker with Omicron.

At this stage, 84 have returned negative tests and two have returned a positive result. A total of 39 contacts have been identified in relation to the worker at Auckland Airport.
So far, 13 have returned negative results.

Seated customers at Auckland cafe are close contacts

A person who has since tested positive for the Omicron Covid-19 variant was at the cafe two days ago on Tuesday (January 18. The affected time is between 12.30pm and 2pm.)

People who were sitting inside and now outside the cafe are deemed to be close contacts and are told to self-isolate immediately and get a Covid test.

The Auckland Regional Public Health Service says anyone who was seated inside the cafe during that exposure time has a higher risk of getting the virus.

Those affected will also have to get a test on day five after potentially being exposed.

People are also asked to record their visit via the Ministry of Health's dedicated locations of interest page webpage or call Healthline on 0800 611 116 so contact tracers can give you a call.

Anyone who was at the cafe during this time but was seated outside is now a casual contact of the Covid-infected diner.

The advice for those people is to monitor their health for 10 days after being potentially exposed.

If symptoms start to show, get a Covid test immediately and stay home until a negative test result comes back.

The Ara-Tai Cafe was not open this morning and the phone remain unanswered.

A health ministry spokeswoman said an update on the situation will be given in the regular 1pm Covid update being released via a media statement.

That would also include any new locations of interest.

Other Auckland locations of interest

There are three other locations in Auckland that are deemed to be "close contact" locations - which require all those affected to self-isolate immediately and to get a Covid test.

Auckland's Family bar on K road was recently added to the locations of interest list. Photo / Google

- Longroom Nightclub, Grey Lynn: Saturday, January 15, 7pm-9pm.

- Family Bar and Club, Auckland CBD: Saturday, January 15, 9.30pm to Sunday, January 16, 12am.

- AV Club, Auckland CBD: Friday, January 14, 6pm to Saturday, January 15, 5am.

Palmerston North locations of interest

The 1pm update from the Ministry of Health said the case was in a Christchurch MIQ facility and had tested negative five times, before being released on Sunday (January 16).

The case then returned a positive Covid-19 test result after becoming symptomatic yesterday. They are believed to have been infectious since Monday (January 17).