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There are eight new cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand, all in isolation.
An Air New Zealand flight crew member who tested positive for the virus upon arrival in Shanghai on November 22 also returned to the country, the Health Ministry said.
An investigation of the source is underway and swabs have been sent to ESR in Wellington for genome sequencing, which is being done as quickly as possible, the ministry said.
DAVID BLANCO / THINGS
Aircraft on the ground at Auckland International Airport. (File photo)
Seven close contacts and six casual contacts of the crew member also arrived in New Zealand on Wednesday and all were tested upon arrival.
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They are all in quarantine at the Jet Park Hotel in Auckland.
“We continue to investigate places of interest that the person may have visited in the relevant time period before departing on their flight,” the Ministry said.
Of the eight new cases in controlled isolation, one person arrived on November 19 from Finland via Sweden and Qatar and tested positive around the third day of his stay in controlled isolation.
Another arrived on November 19 from Canada via Hong Kong and another from the United States on the same day.
Five people are part of the same family that arrived on November 19 from Mexico via the United States.
People who visited six Auckland stores where the positive case came are asked to watch for symptoms of Covid-19 or get tested.
These stores are: BP Connect Māngere, Resene Mt Roskill, Countdown Papatoetoe, New World Papatoetoe, Countdown Greenlane Pharmacy and Animates Manukau.
On Wednesday, there were 59 active cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand. The total number of confirmed cases was 1,683.
