Man’s death while in Covid isolation unrelated to vaccine

The Ministry of Health says there is no truth to speculation that a man’s death while isolating at home with Covid-19 was related to the vaccine. 

The Ministry of Health confirmed the news of the man's death on Wednesday night, and said it wasn’t yet clear whether his death was the result of Covid-19 or another cause. 

While the cause of the 40-year-old man’s death is still being investigated, the Ministry of Health said it was not because of the Covid-19 vaccine. 

“There has been speculation this death was vaccine-related, but we can confirm it was not,” the Ministry of Health said. 

The man was isolating at home in an apartment complex in Manukau. They were found dead by a family member who was visiting them on Wednesday.

Both the ministry and the Northern Region Health Coordination Centre would be undertaking a review of the public health and clinical oversight of the man. 

There would be independent input, the Ministry said.

Dr Ashley Bloomfield revealed on Thursday morning that the process for checking in with Covid-19 cases self-isolating at home, in most circumstances, is carried out through a “daily email”.

“There’s a process in place and they’ll quite happily send a daily email to describe their symptoms but that’s only after an initial, quite thorough assessment,” Bloomfield told Breakfast.

“[That includes] what health needs and what support needs, what the needs might be of other household members, and in fact even whether someone needs to isolate to be safe in a managed isolation quarantine facility.”

Bloomfield added there is also the potential for “face-to-face to contact” with self-isolating cases when they need additional support such as food. 

The man tested positive for Covid-19 on October 24. 

Residents at the Putney Way apartments where the man lived said they weren’t proactively told about the death . 

One resident told 1News the first he heard of the death was TV cameras pulling up outside the apartments.