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New Zealand today reported three new cases of community transmission of Covid-19 and, for the first time, six historical cases in Waikato related to a traveler from Italy.
None of the new cases are connected to the Auckland cluster.
Instead, they are members of a family that was on a chartered flight from Christchurch to Auckland, which was first revealed over the weekend to have caused infections.
They have been self-isolating for the past three days, health officials said.
The Health Ministry provided the latest update in a statement this afternoon.
The case of the man who left a managed isolation facility in Christchurch after testing negative for two Covid-19 tests, then testing positive in Auckland, is still under investigation.
The Health Ministry says there were 86 people on the charter flight.
All 86 have been contacted and are in the process of being tested or have been tested, and 63 tested negative.
By tracing the man’s history and how he became infected, health officials say one of the two remaining cases from his previous Delhi-Fiji flight has now been genomically sequenced and shown to be a close match. The second result is still pending.
There are six historical cases today, which are linked to a traveler from Italy. The Health Ministry says that at the time of infection they did not meet the case definition for testing for people with defined symptoms who had traveled or transited China.
One is a confirmed case dating back to February and five are probable case history cases that also date back to February.
The historical cases are all linked in Waikato and do not present any risk to the public.
The Health Ministry confirms that the infection occurred in late February after the person was exposed to an infected person from Italy, another family member.
At the time the family member was visiting New Zealand, he had symptoms consistent with the virus, and the family as a whole became ill as well.
At the time, Italy had not been identified as a country of concern, which meant that the New Zealand home had not been assessed.
Today’s confirmed landmark case is that of a man who recently developed a sore throat and requested tests. The weak positive result, combined with the serologic test results and the case history, is consistent with an old infection.
At this stage, only the man will be counted as a confirmed case, as he had a weak positive result on the PCR test. The other members of the family will be registered as probable cases.
The Health Ministry says the infected family member from Italy is effectively now the first case they are aware of in New Zealand, as the person reported having symptoms upon arrival on February 21, a week before the first previously reported case on February 21. February 28th.
There are 37 people in isolation at the community’s Auckland quarantine facility, which includes 17 people who tested positive for the virus and their household contacts.
Three people are hospitalized with Covid-19, one in Auckland City, Middlemore and North Shore hospitals. The three patients are isolated in a general ward.
There are currently 62 active cases in New Zealand. Of these, 28 are imported cases at MIQ facilities and 34 are community cases.
The total number of Covid-19 cases in New Zealand is now 1,468.
