Two conferences, including a national emergency management meeting, were closed down at Te Papa.
A National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) conference being held at the museum on Wednesday morning ended abruptly after the Ministry of Health announced that Te Papa was a location of interest.
A second conference, the T-Tech 21 intelligent transport conference, was also taking place at Te Papa and was cancelled.
Museum management later closed the facility. It will remain closed on Thursday.
READ MORE:* Covid-19: Positive Sydney case flew to Wellington for weekend, Te Papa punters ‘close contacts’* Te Hkoi Toi: Surrealism in a surreal world* Wellington today, June 9: Tens of thousands of nurses and midwives march on Parliament, little blue penguin live cam launched
The one-day NEMA conference, which started at 8.30am on Wednesday, was attended by more than 100 people. The T-Tech 21 conference was attended by about 150 people.
All attendees of both conferences were evacuated from the museum.
The scene outside Te Papa on Wednesday morning, where a Covid-positive traveller visited at the weekend.
As the NEMA and T-Tech 21 conferences got under way, Te Papa staff were holding a management meeting, Stuff understands.
At 9.30am, workers from Te Papa came into the NEMA conference wearing masks and told everybody they had to leave.
All members of the conference were escorted out by Te Papa staff wearing masks. Some had face visors on, they said.
Meanwhile, Transport Minister Michael Wood was walking on stage to address the T-Tech 21 transport conference when the venue was evacuated, conference organiser Simon McManus said.
Te Papa is at the centre of attention as a major location of interest that the Covid-19 case visited.
Te Papa chief executive Courtney Johnston said that once Te Papa staff made the decision to close the building, it asked all people attending conferences inside to leave immediately.
On Wednesday morning, the Ministry of Health announced that Te Papa, on Wellingtons waterfront, was visited by a man who has been confirmed with coronavirus on Saturday between the hours of 3.05pm and 5.45pm.
The museum estimates some 2500 people may have visited it between those hours.
Saturday is one of the museums busiest days of the week and as well as exploring it generally, the man visited the major ticketed surrealist exhibition Surrealist Art: Masterpieces from Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen.
Anybody who visited the exhibition between 4pm and 5.45pm on Saturday is considered a close contact and has been asked to self-isolate for 14 days and seek a Covid-19 test immediately.
Meanwhile, general visitors during the affected times have been asked to stay at home until a negative test result is received.
The museum closed for all of Wednesday to visitors and staff so it could deep clean its exhibitions and building. It would also be closed on Thursday while it assessed the situation and decided whether it would reopen on Friday, Johnston said.
Last year, Te Papa closed for a record 68 days due to lockdown.
Dr Ashley Bloomfield talks about the Covid-19-positive tourist who visited Wellington.
Meanwhile, Queen Margaret College and Whitby Collegiate School both held senior student balls at Te Papa on Saturday night.
A spokesman for Queen Margaret College said staff and students started arriving from about 7pm Saturday. The school was following guidance from the Ministry of Health and the school remained open.
Parents would be kept up to date with any developments but if parents had concerns, they should contact the school.
Whitby Collegiate School chief executive Shelley Addison said that due to the fact eight of its staff were at the museum prior to 5.45pm on Saturday, the school had made the precautionary decision to close early on Wednesday. The school would likely reopen on Monday, Addison said.