Covid 19 Coronavirus: Six new cases: one is a border worker

There are six new cases of Covid-19 today, including a border worker linked to the November quarantine group.

That person, who is already in quarantine, is a close contact for one of the cases of
the November group. The group now has six cases.

Despite the new community case, the Health Ministry said the group was contained.

Health officials said this person had been self-isolating at home since November 7 and decided to move to the isolation administered five days later. They had a negative test on day five and it is now confirmed as a case today after returning a positive test around day 12.

They remain in the managed isolation facility in Wellington. All close contacts have been followed up, tested and returned negative results.

There are now active cases in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.

Genome sequencing results for today’s case, known as Case F, are expected Monday.

“We have the best chance of getting ahead of Covid-19 if everyone who gets sick with cold or flu symptoms stays home and seeks a test quickly, and all New Zealanders keep track of where they have been and who they are.” I’ve seen, “the ministry said.

The ministry continued to encourage anyone visiting a landmark during the November group’s relevant time period to get tested to ensure officials could quickly identify anyone who might have been infected.

The ministry also urged people to continue using the contact tracing app to scan at locations displaying a QR code or use a contact tracing journal. “The more each person scans, the safer we will all be,” the ministry said.

November cluster

The November group began when a Defense Force worker at the Jet Park quarantine facility tested positive (Case A).

The worker met another Defense Forces worker (Case B) in Auckland. That person then flew to Wellington the next day and did not wear a mask on the flight. This person is the close contact on today’s case.

Case B ate at Little Penang on the Terrace Malaysian restaurant. Another Defense Force worker (Case C) was at lunch and also contracted the virus.

Then an AUT student (Case D) in her 20s who works at the AZ Collections store in the CBD, tested positive. She was genomically related to the Defense worker who was infected in the quarantine hotel.

And last Friday, a neighbor (Case E) who lives in the same apartment building as the Auckland student with Covid-19 tested “weakly positive” for the coronavirus.

The group continues to harass health officials who have yet to find out how Case A got infected working in a quarantine facility and transmitted the disease to the downtown college student.

The health authorities revealed yesterday that they are still following up on the contacts of the existing cases that were part of this group.

Managed isolation cases

The other five cases in New Zealand today are recent returnees in controlled isolation.

Among those who tested positive are two people from Qatar who arrived here on November 17. They returned a positive result to routine tests on day three and are being transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility today.

The third person to test positive arrived from Germany via Qatar and Australia on November 10. They returned a positive result after a series of previous tests that yielded inconclusive results and were also transferred to quarantine in Auckland.

Two people who arrived from the United States on November 14 also tested positive and are now under quarantine in Christchurch.

There are now 42 active cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand.

The Health Ministry said the labs processed 7014 tests yesterday, bringing the total number of tests completed to date to 1,224,397.

“This level of testing, as well as the prompt identification, tracing, testing and isolation of close contacts provides reassurance that this group is contained at this stage,” the ministry said in a statement today.

The pop-up test location in central Auckland is on High St, close to various sights and would be open this weekend.

As part of increased vigilance, the ministry said it would continue to have two pop-up test facilities in central and eastern Auckland. Both locations were walk-in and did not require an appointment.

Auckland’s east location is at 292A Botany Rd (Spectrum House) and it would also be open this weekend. All test locations are listed on the Auckland Regional Public Health Service website.

This weekend is an important test for automatic tracking at the Beervana festival in Wellington, as people do not need to scan QR codes individually.

Beacons will be used and the results of the test will help digital agency Paperkite, which is working with the Ministry of Health, to decide whether there will be further implementation.

But, promisingly, the Health Ministry said that extensive testing around known cases allowed officials to have greater confidence that there were no potential undetected links in the chain of transmission.

A deadly day

The new cases come as data from the World Health Organization reveals that the coronavirus is killing one person every eight seconds around the world.

The WHO recorded 9,989 new deaths from coronavirus in the last 24 hours, which made yesterday the third deadliest day since the beginning of the pandemic, as a third wave sweeps many parts of the world.

In Europe, where cases are increasing in several countries on the continent, the outlook is also bleak, with the WHO director in Europe warning that the virus is killing one person every 17 seconds.