Covid 19 coronavirus: no new community cases today and five in managed isolation

There are no community cases of Covid-19 again today, for the fifth day in a row, and another person has recovered.

And there are five new cases in managed isolation. The total number of active cases is 74.

Three of the imported cases are part of the international fishing crew isolating themselves at Sudima Hotel Christchurch Airport, bringing the total number of sailors who tested positive to 32.

Today’s three cases were tested on the ninth, as they were part of the group that had previously been in close contact with other confirmed cases, the Health Ministry said.

All positive cases are in quarantine.

The other two imported cases include a relative of a positive case who has recently returned and both were already in quarantine at the Auckland quarantine facility.

The other case is a recent returnee who arrived from Ethiopia via Dubai and tested positive in routine tests on the third day. This person has also been transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility.

The total number of confirmed cases from New Zealand is now 1,584.

Today is the fifth day in a row that there are no new community cases after the two people connected to the marine engineer tested positive on October 17.

The Sofrana cluster

The Health Ministry now has preliminary genome sequencing results for the other two seaman-related Auckland cases that tested positive after working on the Sofrana Surville ship.

Those results show that all three workers have an identical form of the virus, further proof that their infections come from a common source.

Australian authorities are performing genome sequencing of the three Sofrana Surville crew members who tested positive upon arrival in Brisbane after leaving New Zealand and those results are pending, the ministry said.

Tests

3,038 tests were processed yesterday and the ministry said testing in Auckland had continued at a steady level and the city’s metropolitan DHBs reported that 478 people were sampled at the seven community testing centers in the region.

All seven community test centers remain open today:
• Northcote Community Testing Center,
• Northcare Accident and Medical,
• Whânau House in Henderson,
• Western Springs Community Testing Center,
• the Whânau Ora Community Clinic in Wiri,
• the Otara Community Testing Center,
• the North Harbor Stadium car park in Albany.

Several urgent care clinics also offer tests; Anyone unsure of the nearest testing center should call Healthline.

“We want to thank New Zealanders again, especially Aucklanders, who are doing the right thing by staying vigilant, isolating themselves and getting tested if they have the slightest symptoms.

“Your actions are helping to keep you, your whânau and your communities safe,” the Ministry of Health said in its statement.

The ministry also repeated its message to New Zealanders that it was “highly encouraging” the use of the Covid Tracer app to scan QR codes wherever they go.

“The more we scan, the more secure we will be. More scans facilitate a faster response. The faster we respond, the faster we stop Covid-19.”

Data from the ministry shows that daily scans on the app have plummeted from its peak of 2.5 million in one day in early September to just 500,000 a day before the weekend.

After Health Minister Chris Hipkins and Chief Health Officer Ashley Bloomfield asked to use the app on Friday, daily scans doubled to nearly 1 million a day over the weekend.