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Four close and nine casual contacts have been identified from a contractor who tested positive for Covid-19 after working in New Plymouth.
Tests returned so far at 1:00 PM have been negative, Taranaki District Board of Health Medical Health Officer Dr. Jonathan Jarman said Monday afternoon.
The Public Health Unit (PHU) has worked to contact persons of concern and all have been tested, he added.
The answer follows a 27-year-old Auckland marine electronics technician who tested positive for a new strain of Covid-19 on Friday.
ANDY JACKSON / Stuff
The confirmed case is from Auckland, but he spent time last week working in Port Taranaki, pictured above on Monday.
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* Covid-19 positive case worked in Port Taranaki and stayed in New Plymouth
He traveled to New Plymouth to work in Port Taranaki on Tuesday and Wednesday (October 13-14).
The Ministry of Health (MoH) said the man was potentially infectious on Wednesday and Thursday. The case was announced on Sunday.
Jarman said people considered to be most at risk of having contact with the man self-isolated for 14 days, while others had been sent home to await test results.
Three dock workers were among those who had been identified as possible contacts with the contractor.
One had already tested negative and the other two awaited their results while they isolated themselves at home.
ANDY JACKSON / Stuff
Three dockworkers have been identified as having a possible contact with the contractor confirmed to have Covid-19.
The tests have focused on Port Taranaki, Devon Hotel and Quest New Plymouth, Jarman said.
“It is fortunate that the Auckland man with Covid-19 was very secretive during his time in New Plymouth. He was only going to and from hotels and the port and traveling alone in his own car. He has not reported going to any other place of importance in our community ”.
However, more than 100 tests have been completed in Taranaki since Sunday afternoon, and the testing centers braced for the possible surge in people wanting to get swabs.
The contractor stayed at the Devon Hotel in New Plymouth on Tuesday night and left early Wednesday morning.
Manager Peter Tennent said the man did not come into close contact with other guests and did not use the hotel’s facilities.
Andy Jackson / Stuff
Devon hotel manager Peter Tennent confirmed the man had stayed at his hotel Tuesday night.
The room he stayed in had undergone a deep cleaning, Tennent said.
The man then checked into Quest New Plymouth on Wednesday, but did not stay.
Instead, he drove back to Auckland and was now isolated in the Auckland quarantine facility.
Quest New Plymouth owner Ross McCabe said the room reserved for the man had been thoroughly cleaned.
The man was only at the hotel for a short time, he said.
“The room was not used. He did not fall asleep in bed. “
Stuff
Port Taranaki CEO Guy Roper said three port workers had been screened and were now in isolation while they awaited test results. (File photo)
Since news of the confirmed case broke, there had been a cautious mood among port staff, Port Taranaki Chief Executive Guy Roper said in an emailed statement Monday.
But they continued the business while following health and hygiene guidelines, he said.
Roper said the contractor had limited contact with staff while working on a ship, the Ken Rei, in Port Taranaki.
“The visiting contractor is very responsible, took all health and safety precautions, including limiting contact with others, and has been very helpful in identifying the few people he may have been in contact with,” said Roper.
“We are satisfied that the only staff members who potentially had contact with the case while he was in port have already been evaluated.”
However, Roper encouraged any port personnel or users who would like to swab for coronavirus to do so.
On Monday, a pop-up testing clinic was held in Port Taranaki for staff.
The Ken Rei was still anchored near Napier on Monday as the crew waited for public health clearance before disembarking.
No one on board had symptoms. The crew is considered close contacts of the man and is being tested.
Dan Browne / Stuff
The ship Ken Rei remained anchored off Napier on Monday. The crew are considered close contacts of the Covid-19 case and have not yet disembarked.
At a news conference Monday, Health Director-General Dr. Ashley Bloomfield said that genome sequencing of the port-related case had been completed.
“It fits the scenario that this case is a ‘border incursion’ case, rather than a community case of unknown origin,” he said.
“The results of the genome sequencing show that this Covid-19 strain is not a type that we have previously seen in New Zealand and is not linked to any existing cases in New Zealand.”
Authorities continued to investigate the source of the transmission. However, they believed it likely came from a ship the man had worked on in Auckland on October 12 and 13.
That ship, the Sofrana Surville, had left New Zealand and was heading for Brisbane.
