Officials have confirmed the Whakatīwai prisoner appeared in person because no AVL was available. It was still unclear what if any steps will be taken to improve AVL at Manukau or otherwise prevent a repeat of the Whakatīwai prisoner scenario. Since yesterday afternoon, attention has been focused on the prisoner's movements after he was released from Mt Eden on Wednesday, September 8. The prisoner is in a quarantine unit at Mt Eden Corrections Facility after testing positive for Covid-19. The journey from Mt Eden to Whakatīwai is about 86km but the Department of Corrections said the prisoner's journey took more than two hours.

Source: New Zealand Herald September 21, 2021 00:00 UTC