Coronavirus Covid 19: three new cases in controlled isolation; Christmas party warning

There are three new cases of Covid-19 in managed isolation.

Today there are no new community cases.

From today’s new cases:

• One person arrived on November 23 from Germany via Singapore and tested positive for routine tests on day three. Additional evidence indicates that this case is historical, but has not been reported abroad, thus it is included in the New Zealand totals.
• One person arrived on November 23 from the United States of America. This person was tested on day six because a person in their bubble tested positive on day three, and this test came back positive. This person is in the same bubble that two people reported yesterday.
• One person arrived on November 26 from South Africa and tested positive for routine tests on day three.

Group of Pakistan cricket squads

More samples were taken yesterday from the 46 members of the Pakistan cricket squad in Christchurch, which to date have tested negative for Covid-19.

In all, six team members tested positive on the first day, and one member of the team tested positive on the third day.

“Of these, 42 have subsequently returned an additional negative result. Three are under investigation to determine if they are historical cases, and a test result is pending. The team cannot train until the Canterbury DHB health medical officer determines who are satisfied that the training activities are unlikely to transmit Covid-19, “the Health Ministry said in a statement.

Christmas party warning

“With the countdown to Christmas, the ministry is asking that anyone hosting a staff party make sure everyone in attendance is okay. If someone who was planning to attend is unwell, consider how you can include them in your celebrations through of a video call. or other means that ensure that they can participate while everyone is safe, “the ministry said in its statement.

“Encourage attendees to register on the spot with the NZ Covid Tracer app, on the Covid Tracer brochure available online or in a personal notebook,” the ministry said.

Please continue to emphasize the importance of hand washing at your event and have a hand sanitizer available for your attendees.

Monday’s Cases

Yesterday there was a new case of Covid-19 in managed isolation.

The person arrived from Jordon, via Dubai, on November 26 and is in the Auckland quarantine facility.

His case brought New Zealand’s total number of confirmed cases to 1,696.

Two more people also recovered, bringing the total number of active cases to 69.

One of the cases added to the total number of cases yesterday was the Pakistani cricketer who tested positive the day before.

Serology, or blood tests, has confirmed that two of the original six cases are historical cases and therefore not infectious.

All 53 members of the isolation squad administered in Christchurch have undergone serological tests, in addition to routine PCR tests for the virus that have identified 11 others who had prior “historical” infections.

The Health Ministry continued to remind New Zealanders to use the Covid Tracer app and keep detailed records of their movements in case they need to be tracked.

“Doing so through the app is private to the user and will give our system the best chance to gain an advantage should Covid-19 cases arise and need to be isolated and traced,” the ministry said.

“Stopping the spread of the virus quickly is how we can continue to enjoy our Alert Level 1 freedoms, so scan every time you see a QR code.”

Ongoing consideration on whether to allow the Pakistan cricket team an exemption to train was expected to last at least until early next week.

The team, which is located at the Chateau on the Park in Christchurch, was previously criticized by health director general Ashley Bloomfield for violating rules within the facility.