Covid 19 coronavirus: 25 in isolation after Auckland quarantine worker case

Twenty-five close contacts of the quarantine worker were isolated at the center of New Zealand’s latest Covid-19 outbreak.

The Auckland Jet Park worker tested positive for Covid-19, the Health Ministry confirmed. At this stage there has been no further spread, that case is the only new one reported today.

“We have identified 25 close contacts of the worker, and all have been contacted, are isolated and are being evaluated,” the ministry said. “To date, six have returned a negative test result and the rest are pending.

“As in other cases, this person was quickly tested after developing symptoms, allowing us to act quickly to stop the spread of the virus.”

The ministry also revealed that it has uncovered a landmark case: someone who arrived in New Zealand on October 5 from London via Singapore.

Upon arriving at their managed isolation facility, they alerted staff to their previous positive test which was confirmed in London on September 19.

They were retested and tested positive on October 5. The ministry said it was likely an old infection, consistent with the previous positive result.

“We are awaiting confirmation that the case has been recorded in UK totals, and until then we are classifying it as a landmark case that will be reported in our case numbers.”

The ministry is still investigating the movements of the Jet Park worker who visited Auckland’s Mezze bar and a bottle shop on Queen St when he was infected. Both premises closed for a deep cleaning.

“A review of the movements of the case and its contacts is underway. The case has provided a very detailed description of its movements that has reported a rapid contact tracing response.”

The ministry urged people to continue using the contact tracing app.

Three previously reported cases have already been recovered, bringing the total number of active cases to 43.

The total confirmed cases is now 1620.

Yesterday, 5,834 people were tested for Covid-19, bringing the total number of tests to 1,132,820.

It is at least the seventh time in just over three months that Covid-19 has been transmitted from inside an isolation or managed quarantine (MIQ) facility to the community.

The others are Rydges’ maintenance worker, the Jet Park nurse, the overseas returnee who caught Covid from the lid of a shared dumpster and tested positive after leaving MIQ, the port engineer, and the two nurses. of Sudima. It is also likely that the August group came from an MIQ facility, although there is no evidence.

Infection prevention and control measures have been audited twice and are currently being reviewed by Deputy Health Minister Ayesha Verrall, an infectious disease specialist, in light of recent cases among border workers.