Covid 19 coronavirus: alleged case of Covid in the port of Tauranga

The health authorities are investigating an alleged historical case of Covid-19 detected in a crew member who arrived at the Port of Tauranga at the weekend.

If confirmed, it would be the second case in the community in just two days, after yesterday’s announcement of a positive case in a dock worker.

Earlier today, the Health Ministry said there were no new Covid-19 cases to announce in the community or in managed isolation.

However, in a statement this afternoon, the Ministry confirmed that it was investigating an alleged historical case of Covid-19, detected in a crew member of the IVS Merlion, which is currently docked in the Port of Tauranga.

The crew member returned a weak positive Covid-19 test, with a high CT value, indicating an old infection, the ministry said.

“It seems more likely that this crew member had Covid-19 some time ago and is no longer infectious. The IVS Merlion arrived in New Zealand waters on October 15 after leaving Indonesia on September 24.”

The person had not transmitted the infection to any other crew member, who had all tested negative and had been on board the ship for three weeks.

“As a precautionary measure, the case under investigation has been isolated and the Covid-19 test has been repeated, as well as a blood test. The results of these tests will confirm whether it is a historical case.”

The Ministry said there was a very low risk of transmitting the virus to the community.

All crew members in the historic case were considered close contacts until the health authorities completed the investigation.

No member of the crew can leave the IVS Merlion.

Tauranga Port Executive Director Mark Cairns told BusinessDesk that if this second crew member tested positive for the virus, early detection showed that border controls and shore permit protocols at the port were working.

A Cairns spokesperson confirmed to NZME that a suspected case of Covid-19 was being investigated.

A spokeswoman for the port of Tauranga said that, in terms of the historical case, the crew member in question did not reach shore and was at low risk of infection.

He said the contact of the dock worker who tested positive for Covid-19 last week was currently being traced, which also included the ships the worker had been on.

“That worker hasn’t been in Tauranga for quite some time.”

However, one of those ships, the Safrana Surville, had arrived in Tauranga between 10 and 12 October from Brisbane.

The spokeswoman said that operations at the Port of Tauranga were continuing as usual.

The Health Ministry said today that the Sofrana Surville, a Brisbane-bound ship from Auckland and Noumea, was the most likely source of infection for a dock worker who tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday.

The Ken Rei, a ship off the coast of Napier with 21 crew on board, was also being examined, said Chief Health Officer Ashley Bloomfield.

The marine electronics engineer who tested positive for the virus on Friday had worked on both ships. The new case was announced yesterday.

Genomic sequencing showed that the Covid-19 strain had not previously been seen in New Zealand and was not related to the recent August outbreak or any other New Zealand cases, Bloomfield said.

There are 29 close contacts of that man, including 21 on the ship off Napier, four domestic contacts, three port workers in Taranaki and one workplace worker.

All of them would be isolated for 14 days, regardless of a negative test result.

So far, one workplace contact and two of the four household contacts have tested negative for Covid-19.

Two other household contacts awaited the test results.

Bloomfield said yesterday that the man was potentially infectious on Wednesday and Thursday when he was working in New Plymouth at the Ken Rei.

He had driven alone from Auckland to New Plymouth on Tuesday, stayed there in two rooms, which had since been thoroughly cleaned, and then returned to Auckland on Wednesday night.

“So far there is no evidence of any community transmission,” Bloomfield said yesterday.

Today, Bloomfield said health officials were still working on what they would do if other crew members tested positive for the coronavirus.

The New Zealand Maritime Union said the positive cases showed the need for a limited number of ports in New Zealand.

The union’s national secretary, Joe Fleetwood, told BusinessDesk that the union had repeatedly raised the issue of international ships carrying domestic cargo between all New Zealand ports.

Every New Zealand port was an international border point and put union members at risk, Fleetwood said.