COVID-19 Update

There are two new cases of COVID-19 to report in New Zealand today, both detected in recent returnees in managed isolation. There are no new community cases.

One person arrived on 17 November and tested positive around day 3 of their stay in managed isolation.

One person arrived on 19 November and tested positive at around day 3 of their stay in managed isolation.

Both are now in quarantine at our Auckland facility.

One previously confirmed case has now been reclassified as historical, meaning there are 53 active cases of COVID-19 in New Zealand.

Our total number of confirmed cases is 1,675. There have been 58,425,681 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 1,385,218 deaths, reported to the World Health Organization.

Yesterday our laboratories completed 3,560 tests for COVID-19, bringing the total number of tests completed to date to 1,237,736.

On Monday, Air New Zealand made the Ministry of Health aware of a possible case of COVID-19 in a staff member who is currently in China.

The Ministry of Health is continuing to investigate the circumstances of this possible case. Currently, we are classifying it as a case under investigation.

Out of an abundance of caution, we are following public health protocols as if this were a confirmed case in New Zealand.

As a result of our investigation to date, we have identified three close contacts in Auckland, all of whom are now in self-isolation. Two additional people are being investigated as close contacts.

Other staff on the flight will be initially assessed by Air New Zealand around their contact status. ARPHS will be actively following up any close contacts when they are back in New Zealand.

We have also been investigating locations of interest the person may have visited in the relevant time period prior to departing on their flight.

As a result, we are advising members of the public who were at Animates Manukau on Saturday 21 November between 1.22pm and 2.11pm to get a test.

We will be sending a push notification to users of our COVID Tracer app who scanned in around this time. People should note that the risk is deemed to be low and testing is being recommended as a precaution only.

There were also brief visits to a number of other businesses and shops on 20 and 21 November. Staff at most of these businesses are being advised to isolate at home and get tested if they develop symptoms, while the investigation continues.

Members of the public who may have been at these locations are not considered to be at risk.

As further information becomes available, other locations may be notified by ARPHS.

We want to thank the staff member and Air New Zealand for their assistance with our investigation.

There are now 2,379,900 registered app users and poster scans have reached 124,595,943. An average of nearly one million scans took place each day over the last week.