Covid 19 coronavirus: infected hotel worker visited chemist in busy Christchurch shopping center

One of the workers at the Christchurch Sudima Hotel who tested positive for Covid-19 visited a chemical warehouse in a busy shopping mall, Health Ministry officials warned.

Chemist Warehouse South City in downtown Christchurch was added to the MoH interest location. These locations can be for casual contacts of community Covid-19 cases.

“While the risk in these places is usually very low, casual contacts are asked to monitor their health and get medical advice from their GP or Healthline if they feel unwell,” the Health Ministry said today.

A Covid-19 case visited the Chemist Warehouse between 3:45 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. last Friday. The Chemist Warehouse is part of a major shopping center.

The Ministry of Health has not designated any other store or part of the center.

Health physician Dr. Ramon Pink said that “the person was in the store for a short period of time and did not have any close contact with other people during their time in the store.”

“The person checked into the store using the tracking app, which is more useful since we know the exact time they were in the store.”

The Ministry alerted other buyers at Chemist Warehouse who used the Covid tracking app.

“We are aware that people may be concerned if they were in the store at the same time as this person, although the risk to other shoppers and staff is considered extremely low,” he said.

“It is important to emphasize that this person did not have any symptoms when he was in the store, and at the time he did not know that he would later test positive for Covid-19.

“Anyone who is concerned and wants to get tested for Covid-19 can attend any of our community-based Covid-19 testing centers. The test is free and no appointment is necessary. You don’t need to have symptoms to qualify for free trials. “

Esting has confirmed that the latest outbreak in the Christchurch community is connected to a strain of Covid-19 that has infected international sailors isolating themselves in Garden City.

First case of health worker linked to infected Russian sailors

Earlier today, Chief Health Officer Dr. Ashley Bloomfield said that the genomic tests of Mike Hosking of Newstalk ZB had shown an exact match to the infection found in five of the Russian and Ukrainian sailors at the Sudima Hotel. Airport in controlled isolation.

He said the results were related to the first health worker to become ill. Despite testing negative for Covid on Thursday, the woman became symptomatic on Saturday and tested positive for Covid-19.

A second health worker who works alongside the ill health worker who is now isolated at home with a teenager, has since tested positive.

Bloomfield said that the fact that genomic tests linked the case to the Sudima outbreak meant there was little fear of a new strain of Covid out of control in the community.

He said that while there were strict infection control measures within the facility, raids were always a possibility.

He added that he had a high level of confidence that the latest cases of infected healthcare workers posed no greater threat to others outside of the quarantine facility.

With the prospect of other fishermen heading to New Zealand, Bloomfield said it was important to review the episode before the men left their homeland and determine what happened to prevent a repeat of the situation that has left 31 men sick with Covid. .

He said that even though the men tested negative before their flight here, it was obvious that there was cross contamination with an infected person at some point after the tests were conducted.

Bloomfield’s comments follow a second person working at a managed isolation facility in Christchurch testing positive for Covid-19.

The Health Ministry said last night that the person is a close workplace contact for the case reported Monday – a health worker at the Sudima Christchurch Airport hotel who tested positive for the virus.

“As the person works at the facility and is not a returnee, he is treated as a community case,” the ministry said in a statement.