Police have arrested a man trying to escape mandatory Covid-19 isolation at an Auckland hotel minutes after a fire alarm was triggered

A witness, Jon Philip Smith, who arrived in Auckland on May 19 from Brisbane and is also in isolation at the Rydges Hotel on Federal St, said the man tried to run away yesterday but was detained by six police officers.

New Zealanders returning from overseas are placed in two-week mandatory isolation at one of 13 Auckland hotels to stop the virus from spreading.

Mr Smith says staff told him this was not the first time someone had tried to escape.