Covid 19 coronavirus: No new community cases in Chch, four cases on the border

The case of the Christchurch Covid-19 community is a health worker who was caring for foreign fishermen in controlled isolation.

The worker, a woman in her 50s of service at the Sudima Hotel at Christchurch Airport, tested positive this week and is currently isolated at home. She has mild symptoms and is monitored daily.

One of his domestic contacts, a Cashmere High School student, is isolated and has tested negative. They will be retested, said Chief Health Officer Ashley Bloomfield.

Cashmere’s parents have been told that the school community does not need to be tested or isolated unless they have any symptoms.

“Today everything is the same at school,” said Bloomfield.

Bloomfield said the risk of spread at the Cashmere school was low. “It doesn’t make sense that no horse has escaped here.”

Other Sudima staff members who work the same shift are being contacted and will be tested if necessary.

Worker Countdown Visit

Video footage is being reviewed at Countdown on Colombo St, which the worker visited, he said.

A small number of people were on Countdown at the same time as her, she said.

He wouldn’t say he was disappointed that the woman went to Countdown while symptomatic because he didn’t know all the details.

He said the risk of spread at the Countdown and at the school was low, and that there are currently no other areas of concern where spread has occurred.

He compared the situation to the Jet Park nurse who attended three Les Mills exercise classes and the case involving the dock worker who went to the North Shore pub, neither of which led to more infections.

Hipkins said people had become too complacent and urged everyone to scan QR codes, stay home if they are sick and wear masks on public transportation, although wearing masks is not mandatory.

Businesses enjoyed Level 1 freedoms and had a role to play in ensuring their QR codes were prominently displayed and encouraging their customers to scan them.

At this time, it wasn’t being considered making it mandatory for companies to have customers scan the QR code, Hipkins said, but improvements were always being considered.

Bloomfield said there was no asymptomatic evidence of Countdown workers at this stage.

But the general message was that people who felt sick should stay home.

Bloomfield said anyone concerned about the update should contact Healthline, and there is plenty of capacity for testing in Christchurch.

The case means that the stay of foreign fishermen will be extended for 24 hours while a complete picture of the situation is obtained. International sailors were hired to work on New Zealand fishing boats. They are from Russia and Ukraine.

There are three different lineages of the virus among the dozens of sailors who tested positive. None were in New Zealand prior to the arrival of the group.

Genome sequencing for the latter case is expected today.

Bloomfield said the source of infection for the health worker in Sudima was still being analyzed.

“We may find other cases.”

Bloomfield said Sudima was installed with different wings for controlled isolation and quarantine.

He rejected Professor Nick Wilson’s description that it was a border failure.

“This is another example of how well the system works to protect our border.”

Hipkins added that there is no 100% foolproof system, and that the system has been audited twice and is continually being improved.

More than 60,000 people had gone through controlled isolation, and Bloomfield said the low number of infections leaking to the community shows how well the system works.

Hipkins added that each time a violation had occurred, the government had learned something new and improved its systems.

He said the latest audit of Heather Simpson and Sir Brian Roche would be released.

The next tranche of foreign sailors, which will arrive next week, has been delayed, Hipkins said.

Bloomfield said that the fact that there were two sailors in a room in some cases was not unusual, as family members also shared a room where it was considered safe enough.

He said he was still waiting for the latest information on the dock worker who got infected in Sufrana Surville. It was possible for two workers to become infected at the same time rather than an infection occurring within a short three-minute interaction window.

Four cases in managed isolation

Bloomfield said the other four cases today were at the Jet Park quarantine facility.

• One case arrived on October 19 from Kabul via Dubai and tested positive around the 12th.
• One case arrived on October 21 from London via Doha and Brisbane and tested positive around the 12th.
• One case arrived on October 29 from the US via Sydney and tested positive around the third day.
• One case arrived on October 29 from New York via Doha and Brisbane and tested positive around the third day.

Of the four people who tested positive in isolation administered today, one of the cases is a baby under 1 year old.

Bloomfield said officials were analyzing the cases that tested positive on the 12th to make sure there was no cross-contamination within the managed isolation facility.

2455 tests were carried out yesterday.

Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said that everyone arriving in New Zealand is treated as if they have Covid-19 and that border control measures were working.

The most recent case from the community, the Sudima hotel worker, was potentially infectious for a “short period of time,” and Hipkins thanked the worker for getting tested when they became symptomatic.

He implored Kiwis to use the NZ Covid Tracer app, as it gave officials a “real advantage” in cases like this.

“We will see cases come up from time to time. The key is to identify them early and contain them.”

He added that the Russian fishing crew would stay in Sudima longer.

There was a reservation system for managed isolation rooms and space was tight. Hipkins said people will have to rearrange their travel dates and that will disappoint some people, but safety was the priority.

People could apply for exemptions, but the bar was very high, he said.

Hipkins said the Auckland August group was now officially closed. It involved 179 cases.

“Auckland is back to enjoying the freedoms we all enjoy at alert level 1. But we are not at alert level none. We need to continue using the Covid Tracer app.”

Worker in isolation hotel Chch tests positive

Last night, the Health Ministry confirmed that a worker at the Sudima Christchurch Airport hotel had tested positive for Covid-19. The worker visited a supermarket on Saturday while symptomatic.

It’s at least the fifth, and probably the sixth, border failure since early August, prompting public health experts to tell the government to improve its game.

The Sudima is being used as a managed isolation facility, and is where hundreds of Russian and Ukrainian sailors are housed, including dozens who have tested positive for the virus.

The infected worker was examined Thursday as part of routine testing for border workers. The worker tested negative, but on Saturday he began to feel ill and was tested again on Sunday, with a positive result yesterday.

Despite their symptoms, they went to the Countdown supermarket on Colombo St in Sydenham on Saturday, which has since been thoroughly cleaned.

The Canterbury District Board of Health also sent a letter today to Cashmere High School parents confirming that a student was a close contact of the infected worker.

The student has tested negative and is isolating himself at home. The school has been informed that the risk is low and that students and staff do not need to be evaluated or isolated unless they have symptoms.

This latest outbreak is at least the fifth, and probably the sixth, border failure in recent months.

The other cases are:

• The Auckland cluster in August which had 179 cases. The source has never been determined, but there is likely a fault at the border. Genome sequencing found no link to existing cases in controlled isolation, but only about 20% of those cases had been successfully sequenced at the time the outbreak was detected.

• A maintenance worker at the Rydges Hotel believed to have contracted Covid-19 after using an elevator shortly after an infected foreign returnee.

• A nurse who contracted Covid-19 while working at the Jet Park quarantine facility, and who raised concern after she attended three Les Mills fitness classes while potentially infectious.

• An overseas arrival believed to have caught Covid-19 after touching the lid of a garbage can they shared with an infected person while in managed isolation at the Crowne Plaza in Christchurch. They tested negative on the 12th and left the facility, flying to Auckland on a chartered flight. They sat behind another returnee from abroad on the flight who fell ill and both subsequently tested positive.

• The dock worker believed to have caught Covid-19 while working on the ship Sofrana Surville while in Auckland. Eight foreign crew members from the Philippines joined the ship on the same day that the port worker was on board. The Government has now changed the rules for the crews of foreign ships, who will be tested upon arrival in New Zealand regardless of how long they spend in transit.

There are several infection prevention measures to stop border cases entering the community, including the use of personal protective equipment, deep cleaning of rooms and shared areas, daily health checks, and tests of arrivals abroad on day three and day 12 of your stay.

But Professor Wilson, a public health expert at the University of Otago, said the government needed to “improve its game.”

“This is an area that needs an urgent review. It is not appropriate for workers to be at risk,” Wilson told RNZ.

“We have had an infected nurse, a maintenance worker, a dock worker. They are system failures because we should stop all cases at the border.”

Wilson suggested stricter border controls, including pre-flight tests, specially designed facilities with better ventilation, as well as more facilities outside Auckland, where the population was more concentrated.

“Basically we have border control failures every two weeks and we could end up with another Auckland outbreak in August if we don’t improve.”

Today Covid-19 test sites are opening in Christchurch, and this morning a queue is forming at a test facility near Christchurch airport.

The latest case comes as Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has given Hipkins sole ministerial responsibility for the Covid-19 health response.

Yesterday he unveiled his cabinet lineup, which includes teams of ministers dealing with health and economic recovery from Covid-19.

They will swear on Friday.