Covid 19 coronavirus: Russian fishing crew tests positive, but no changes to border waivers

By RNZ

The government says no changes to border waivers are being considered after 11 newly arrived fishing crews tested positive for Covid-19.

The fishing crew arrived on the flight from Moscow to Christchurch last week and are isolated at the Sudima Hotel.

Yesterday, 11 of the 237 crew members tested positive for the virus with another 14 possible cases.

Air Commodore Darryn Webb told Chris Lynch at Newstalk ZB’s Canterbury Mornings that the number of infected people was expected to increase.

“I think it’s logical to expect that. We knew in planning that places like Russia are high risk.”

Chief Health Officer Ashley Bloomfield would update at 1 pm, she said.

He said it was not an “irrepressible outbreak” and something that happens in our facilities. The processes were robust and fit for purpose.

“We have an exclusive use facility for these fishermen. Part of the process from the beginning is that we know they come from a high risk area, so we provide a single location.”

He said there was a 24-hour delay while the aircraft worked its process in Moscow and the fishermen were gathered there for 48 hours and then en route for 18 hours.

That period of time provided an opportunity for the virus to spread.

“That could well be a risk factor for exposure.”

The Health Ministry said it was investigating after the cases were detected during routine tests on day three.

None involved cases in the community, he said.

The ministry said the positive cases were part of a group that were the only people staying at the facility.

The crew were mostly Russians and others came from Ukraine. Russia has registered more than 1.3 million cases of Covid-19, the fourth highest number of any country.

Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi said no changes to the border waivers were being considered at this time.

“The situation with the fishing crew shows that New Zealand’s border management systems are working as they should and demonstrates why strict border management, testing and isolation procedures are critical to our Covid response.”

Webb previously told Radio New Zealand: “There are over 40 million Covid cases around the world, so bringing in large numbers of people from a place like Russia, we obviously hoped that there might be some positive cases. That is it. one of the reasons we take extensive measurements for your arrival.

“We put them in a dedicated facility, translated the welcome packs into Russian, incorporated translation services on site, and operated at level 4 to keep everyone safe.”

One hundred fishing crews have arrived on commercial flights since September, he said.

“We will continue to work with the fishing companies. At this stage, the next and last chartered flight is due to land on November 2. Based on what we have seen in this instance, we could make some changes, but it is too early to make those calls now.”

Authorities were reviewing the crew’s medical details and will likely find out today if the crew was tested before leaving Russia.

It is currently not mandatory for people to isolate themselves or get tested for Covid-19 before flying to New Zealand, but Sealord, who helped bring the crew to the country, said the 237 people were self-isolated at home for two weeks. and they all came back. negative results before leaving Moscow.

Webb said he understood that they were all tested 72 hours before the flight, but then it was delayed 24 hours, so the tests would have taken 96 hours.

Long-term risk needs to be addressed: epidemiologist

Epidemiologist professor Michael Baker says it is unusual that so many people in a managed isolation facility tested positive for Covid-19 if they were isolated and tested before arriving in New Zealand.

However, he says we shouldn’t worry.

“We are seeing imported cases pretty much every day in New Zealand and, just looking at the last few weeks, for example, we are seeing an average of about two imported cases per day entering managed isolation / quarantine facilities.

“Obviously, what we’re seeing here is a lot more cases in one day than usual.”

It’s part of an ongoing pattern in which people who test positive come from abroad, reflecting the fact that the pandemic has intensified in many parts of the world, Baker said.

This number of people testing positive at one time is manageable, but could become a problem if large numbers become seriously ill, he said.

“I think the bigger problem is the long-term pattern and that is that every time we import a person who is positive for this virus, that is an additional risk to our system.”

Over time, the risk accumulates, he said.

“Travelers from countries that have a very intense pandemic with a lot of transmission present, we must analyze the steps before they travel to New Zealand to reduce that risk.”

Covid-19 modeler Professor Shaun Hendy told First Up that he believes the crew most likely contracted the virus during transit.

“Obviously it is going to be challenging to handle all these cases, the previous Auckland outbreak we were using dedicated facilities to house the community cases … I think the good news is that they are all in one facility and that gives me confidence that We can manage those cases while minimizing the risk of other cases. “

Hendy says it is not easy to estimate the precise risks of particular countries.

“Of course, all that is needed, and quite possibly in this case, is for one of those people to carry the infection and then it can be transmitted during transit.”

-RNZ