[ad_1]
New Zealand has been hit by a new Covid-19 outbreak, with three members of the same family from South Auckland testing positive from an unknown source.
Covid-19 Minister Chris Hipkins said on Sunday that health officials were moving quickly to test and isolate close contacts, and that Jacinda Ardern had canceled engagements in Auckland to return to Wellington for briefings.
“Having the prime minister in Wellington means we can make decisions quickly. At this stage we don’t know if it’s necessary, ”Hipkins said. “There are a number of gaps in our knowledge about these cases.”
He said Auckland would remain at alert level one, but government officials would meet later Sunday to discuss their next moves.
The three new cases are mother, father and daughter, who all tested positive on Sunday. The mother works at LSG Sky Chefs, one of the world’s largest airline catering providers, in Mangere. Covid-19 testing is taking place at that workplace.
The woman, who worked primarily in the laundry department but also in catering, last tested negative on January 18 and was at work for the last time on February 5.
Dr Ashley Bloomfield, New Zealand’s chief health officer, said the family had done all the right things, isolating themselves when they exhibited symptoms and that the woman had not been contagious while at work.
The father is a merchant.
The daughter is a student at Papatoetoe High School, which will be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Five teachers and 28 students are considered close contacts of the Year 9 student and all other students and school staff are “casual” contacts, who have been asked to isolate themselves, said the school principal, Vaughan Couillault. . Testing facilities will be provided at the school during the week.
Two of the confirmed cases had a short break in New Plymouth during Waitangi weekend from February 6 to 7 and visited various locations. It is not clear if they were infectious at the time. According to a statement from the Ministry of Health, the test results indicated new and active infections.
There is a fourth member of the family, who has also been screened and has been transferred with the rest of the family to a managed isolation facility at Jet Park.
Genomic sequencing is now underway to determine if the family has been infected with one of the most transmissible variants abroad.
Some testing centers in Auckland have now extended their hours, but Bloomfield urged people to get tested only if they needed to.
Separately on Sunday, one more case of coronavirus was reported in managed isolation facilities.
The new cases come one day after the first death in five months of someone with coronavirus in New Zealand, although the death is not yet officially treated as Covid-related.
On Saturday, Bloomfield said a person with a serious health condition tested positive for the virus while in mandatory isolation and died after being transferred to the North Shore Hospital in Auckland.
With Australian Associated Press
