[ad_1]
The health ministry says genome sequencing has shown that the Air New Zealand crew member who tested positive for Covid-19 in China is not linked to known cases in New Zealand.
Photo: 123RF
In a statement, the Ministry of Health reported today a new case of coronavirus in managed isolation. The person arrived on November 14 from the United Kingdom via the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia and tested positive around day 12 of his stay in controlled isolation.
The ministry said genomic results had been returned for the case of the Air New Zealand crew member who tested positive for Covid-19 on November 18 after arriving in Shanghai, China, and was confirmed yesterday with tests in New Zealand.
This indicates that the person was likely exposed to the virus abroad, but the ministry said it would continue to take precautions because the source of infection is still unknown.
The ministry had been acting as if it were a transmission case from New Zealand as a precaution.
The crew member returned to New Zealand yesterday morning on a flight with the crew in PPE, who were being monitored, isolated and tested.
The ministry said it had incorrectly reported yesterday that all of the person’s contacts were isolated, and said one of the 11 reported yesterday was a “potential” close contact under investigation.
Today, the ministry said 12 close contacts had been identified.
All the contacts had undergone further testing, with nine coming back negative, the ministry said.
There was no live briefing today.
The total number of confirmed cases from New Zealand is 1684. The Air New Zealand crew member is not counted in this figure as it was initially reported in China, thus it is counted as a case in China.
Labs completed 9,083 tests yesterday, bringing the total number of tests completed to date to 1,252,601.
Yesterday, there were eight new cases in managed isolation, including five from a family.
