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There is a new case of Covid-19 registered in New Zealand today, in managed isolation.
Archive image. Source: istock.com
The Ministry of Health reported the figures today through a statement, confirming that there were no new cases in the community today.
Today’s case came from Kenya via Dubai on October 7. They tested positive for routine tests around day 12 of their stay in a managed isolation facility in Auckland. They were transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility.
Five previously reported cases are considered to have recovered, bringing the total number of active cases in New Zealand to 33.
The total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in New Zealand is 1,531.
Yesterday, labs completed 2,715 tests, bringing the total number of Covid-19 tests completed to date to 1,034,603.
Yesterday, the Director General of Health, Dr. Ashley Bloomfield, said that a dock worker who was reported to have contracted Covid-19 two days ago likely contracted the virus from “a new border raid,” according to genome sequencing.
Initially it was reported that the case potentially came from the community.
There are 30 close community contacts identified in connection with the dock worker’s case, and all have been contacted and are self-isolating, the Health Ministry said today.
All test results returned by close and casual contacts from the advertised case are negative to date.
The man’s virus strain had not been seen before in New Zealand, and Bloomfield confirmed the case was not related to the August Auckland group.
The Health Ministry today included an update on the ships the dock worker had worked on.
Authorities said Sofrana Surville is suspected of being the source of the infection. The ship tours Brisbane, the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia and New Zealand. He arrived in Auckland on October 13 to collect eight crew members.
The ship is heading to Brisbane, and officials are following up with Australian authorities regarding the health of the crew.
Australian authorities are conducting tests and serology on all 19 crew members, and will carry out genome sequencing if any crew test positive.
Investigations into the ship’s activities in New Zealand found that 11 people are believed to have had contact with the ship while in Auckland.
All are being followed, tested and isolated if necessary.
A public health unit in the Bay of Plenty continues to work to identify the people who boarded the ship while it was in Tauranga.
The Ken Rei remains anchored in front of Napier. The 21 crew members on board are being treated as close contacts of the dock worker. The man who tested positive worked on the Ken Rei on October 14 in the port of Taranaki.
The Health Ministry said all 21 were receiving daily health checks and none had reported any symptoms of Covid-19 so far. They have been symptom free for seven days.
Officials are making arrangements for the ship’s next steps with public health units, port authorities and the ship’s owners.
Moana Chief, where the man had worked Wednesday, is still under investigation. But authorities do not believe the ship is the likely source of infection because it only operates in New Zealand and has only New Zealand-based crews.
But tomorrow the Moana Chief’s crew will be tested to rule it out as a source of infection, authorities said.
