Covid 19 coronavirus: New Zealand’s first real case revealed

An epidemiologist says that today’s confirmed case discovered seven months after infection is the longest he has ever heard of.

A landmark coronavirus diagnosis has uncovered what is believed to be the first real case of Covid-19 in New Zealand.

The case came after a person returned from Italy, before the country was identified as a hotspot for the coronavirus.

“This infection occurred in late February after exposure to an infected person from Italy,” the Health Ministry said.

“By the time the family member was visiting New Zealand, he became ill with symptoms consistent with Covid-19, and the family as a whole became ill as well.

“At the time, they did not meet the case definition for testing for people with defined symptoms who had traveled or transited China. At that time, Italy had not been identified as a country of concern. This meant that the home of New Zealand it was not tested at the time. “

The diagnosis was discovered after a man recently developed a sore throat and requested tests. His weak positive result and serology test results and case history indicated a longstanding virus infection.

“This would mean that the infected family member from Italy is effectively now the first case that we are aware of in New Zealand, as they reported having symptoms upon arrival on February 21, a week before our first case reported on February 28. February, “he said the ministry.

Five other family members have been identified as probable historical cases of the virus.

“Consequently, the other domestic cases would represent the first locally acquired cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand, given the onset of symptoms as of February 29 for the confirmed case.”

All of the cases originated in the Waikato region.

The ministry said they now pose no risk to the public.

“As part of the investigation, this man’s close contacts during his recent mild illness have been evaluated as a precaution and have returned negative results.

“We know that some people can return a positive PCR test long after they have recovered from the disease and are no longer infectious.”

Epidemiologist Michael Baker said today’s case was the longest he had heard of in a test after the person first fell ill.

“The test is very sensitive and you can get remnants of the original infection, which contains RNA, which is enough to be detected months later,” he said.

“This person was February, that’s the longest I’ve heard … that’s really pushing that maximum duration.”

There were doubts about the maximum duration of the virus, but because it was a new pathogen, “nobody really knows.”

The news was another reminder that positive test results must be evaluated “based on the circumstances.”

“You have to have that contextual information to interpret a positive result.

“We always knew that testing has its limitations.”

But the more knowledge we have about the tests, the better, he said.

Originally, New Zealand’s first Covid-19 case was believed to be a person who had traveled to Iran.

The person, in his 60s, was identified when his family became concerned about his health and contacted Healthline.

The person had been coughing and was having difficulty breathing.

They tested negative twice before giving a third positive result.