Covid 19 coronavirus: Dockworker case: Authorities pursue the health of the crew on the Brisbane ship

Today there is a new imported case of Covid-19, health authorities say as they persecute their counterparts in Australia about the health of people on board a ship on which a Covid-positive New Zealander worked.

A marine electronics engineer tested positive for the disease on Saturday.

He is believed to have contracted the virus while working on a ship, the Sofrana Surville, in Auckland on October 12-13.

The ship arrived in Brisbane last night.

New Zealand officials are following up with public health officials in Australia on the health of those on board, the Health Ministry said today in a statement.

Local authorities are conducting tests and serology on its 19 crew members. They will share the results when they receive them and perform genome sequencing on positive results, if any.

The Sofrana traveled from Brisbane to Tauranga and then to Auckland, where eight crew members from the Philippines were joined. They had flown to New Zealand and were released from controlled isolation on October 13.

Crew who fly to New Zealand and have a few days before boarding a ship must remain in a managed isolation facility, however, not if the ship leaves port that day.

“The process is: fly in, pick it up in a vehicle driven by a driver in PPE and take it directly to the port to board your vessel,” a ministry spokesman told the Herald.

“Since they have no interaction with the community, they don’t need to be tested.”

The New Zealand port worker was wearing PPE while working on board on October 13.

Eleven people are believed to have been in contact with Sofrana Surville while he was in Auckland, according to the Ministry’s investigation.

Other proven boat crews

Also under examination was the Ken Rei, a ship off the coast of Napier with 21 crew on board. The engineer also worked on the ship.

It is currently anchored in Napier and the 21 workers on board are being treated as close contacts. The man had been working on the ship’s equipment on October 14.

The Ministry is working to determine next moves regarding testing close contacts with crew members on board.

All 21 crew members are fine and are not reporting any Covid-19 symptoms. They have been symptom free for seven days.

“Officials are determining with the ship’s owners the next step for the Ken Rei, together with public health units and port authorities,” the ministry said.

“Trial arrangements will be made once a decision has been made on future moves.”

Arrangements will be made in consultation with the local District Health Board (Hawke’s Bay DHB).

30 close community contacts have been identified in relation to the case of the dock worker.

All persons considered to be a close contact of the man have been contacted by the authorities and are self-isolating.

“All the results of the close and casual contact tests of the case announced on Sunday are negative to date,” says the Ministry.

Meanwhile, a New Zealand-based ship with a New Zealand-based crew will be tested by Kiwi officials tomorrow.

But the ship, the Moana Chief, is considered unlikely to be the source of infection.

“The ship is moving today from Marsden Point to Tauranga, and crew tests will be conducted tomorrow to rule it out as the source of infection,” the Ministry says.

The entire crew is being monitored, tested and isolated if necessary.

“Toi Te Ora, the public health unit in the Bay of Plenty, continues to work to identify the people who boarded the ship (Sofrana Surville) while it was in Tauranga,” the ministry said.

Historical case

Yesterday it was revealed that a supposed historical case of Covid-19 had been detected.

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.”

New case

The new imported case is a person who arrived on October 7 from Kenya via Dubai before being taken to a managed isolation facility in Auckland, reports the Ministry of Health.

They tested positive around day 12 of their stay and were transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility.

There are no new community cases of Covid-19.

Meanwhile, five previously reported Covid-19 cases in New Zealand are considered to have recovered, bringing the total number of active cases to 33.

The total number of confirmed cases is now 1,531, which is the number reported to the World Health Organization.

Yesterday, Ministry labs completed 2,715 tests for the virus, bringing the total number of tests completed to 1,034,603.

There are now 2,311,100 registered users on the NZ Covid Tracer app.

The app has logged a total of 94,853,858 poster scans and users have created 3,962,747 manual journal entries.

Anyone in New Zealand who develops symptoms consistent with Covid-19 should immediately contact their healthcare provider or Healthline and get tested.

People can get tested at their GP or at clinics after hours. Many DHBs still have community-based testing centers for Covid-19 testing, and some DHBs are doing emerging testing as well.

“Wherever and whenever you are going to be tested, a Covid-19 test is free,” says the Ministry.

“The locations where you can get a test are available on your DHB website or on the ARPHS website if you are in Auckland.”

It was revealed on Sunday that the port worker had tested positive for the disease. It was the first community case in New Zealand since September 24.

The Port of Napier did not want the Ken Rei to dock, but Chief Health Officer Dr. Ashley Bloomfield said that was no cause for frustration and he was happy it was anchored off shore while the next movement.