Covid 19 coronavirus: no new cases today, new rules for airline crew

The lid of a shared trash can.

This is how it is believed that a person became infected before boarding a charter flight from Christchurch to Auckland and infecting a man on that flight, who completed 14 days in controlled isolation, with negative tests on day three and day 12.

Health Ministry officials say the dumpster has been identified as a “common factor” after extensive contract tracing to identify the source of the passenger infection.

The dumpster was in a hallway on the floor of a managed isolation facility in Christchurch, and people had to lift the lid to deposit the trash.

Between September 5 and 8, according to CCTV images, a person with Covid-19 (who tested positive on September 9 and likely caught Covid-19 on a flight from India) shared the container with a person who ended in the letter of September 11. flight.

“While we cannot be sure, our hypothesis is that the virus may have been transmitted to a person … through the surface of a garbage can,” said Public Health Director Dr. Caroline McElnay.

The person then sat behind a man on the charter flight whose positive test was reported on September 19.

The man was previously thought to have had an unusually long incubation period, having tested positive three weeks after flying to New Zealand.

It is now believed that he caught Covid-19 on the flight of the person behind him, who had no symptoms but tested positive on September 23, after testing all close contacts on the charter flight.

McElnay said that people in controlled isolation had to put their own garbage in communal containers. There were signs telling them to use hand sanitizer before and after using the container.

“This particular container had a lid that required you to lift it.”

All containers will now be contact-free, he said, while all garbage must be securely sealed in plastic bags before being placed in the containers.

It was no different than the case at the Rydges Hotel, where an infected traveler is believed to have passed Covid-19 to a maintenance worker who pressed the same elevator button.

“What we are seeing more and more is that surface contamination can be a cause of Covid transmission.”

Timeline of Covid infections from the flight from India

August 27: The flight arrives from India via Fiji with the returnees who are transferred to a managed isolation in Christchurch.

August 30: Two people test positive on the third day and are transferred to quarantine. We believe that one was infected in India (1st person) and subsequently infected the other on the international flight (2nd person).

September 10: The Ministry of Health reports that the isolation case administered at Crowne Plaza in Christchurch tested positive on the 12th. Case transferred to quarantine (third person). We believe that this person was also infected by the first person, on the international flight, and was incubating the virus in her test on day 3.

[Third person shares common rubbish bin in MIQ with fourth person].

September 11: Charter flight from Christchurch to Auckland. The fourth person and the child sat behind the fifth person.

September 19: Fifth person reported as positive for COVID-19.

September 20: The fifth person’s two household contacts reported testing positive.

September 23: The fourth person and child were reported to have tested positive. Contact with home is also positive.

There are no new cases

There are no new cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand, McElnay announced today.

That means that the total number of cases in the country is still 1,492.

No one is in the hospital with the virus. It occurs after a person was held in isolation in a general ward at Middlemore Hospital for several days.

There are now 43 active cases, including 32 imported cases and 11 community cases.

4403 tests were processed yesterday.

Following yesterday’s revelations that 10 people had Covid-19 on the same flight from India, McElnay made an appeal to those who wanted to fly to New Zealand.

“In the 14 days prior to departure, people who are about to return to New Zealand should consider avoiding going to parties, social gatherings or crowded places, avoiding contact with people who have Covid-19 or who have been in contact with cases, and staying home as much as possible to limit exposure to other people.

“Doing these things will help reduce the risk of exposure to Covid-19, and then take it home with you. People should also be aware of symptoms and get tested if any develop.”

This morning Health Minister Chris Hipkins announced a new set of measures for the crew that will take effect next week.

Overseas-based aircrew resting in New Zealand will need to stay in a government-run isolation facility for the time they are in the country, to ensure that they avoid contact with New Zealanders.

They will be required to wear PPE on flights, airports, and whenever traveling between the airport and their hotel. They will also isolate themselves with other crew members during calls abroad.

New Zealand-based crew returning to New Zealand from high-risk locations abroad will be required to self-isolate for at least 48 hours after their return, and until they are assessed as low-risk for Covid -19.

The new measures are part of a public health response order that will take effect from 11:59 p.m. on Sunday.

They were singled out more than a week ago by Chief Health Officer Ashley Bloomfield.

It comes after it was learned yesterday that 12 people in managed isolation had tested positive for Covid-19: 10 were on the same flight from India on September 26.

It has prompted University of Otago epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker to push for a week on quarantine and a negative test before travelers can fly to New Zealand from Covid-risk countries.

The National Party has also been pushing for a negative pre-game test, but Labor leader Jacinda Ardern remains tepid on a pre-game test, saying it will “not necessarily” strengthen New Zealand’s overall response.