28 Oct 2021

Covid modeller Prof Michael Plank on new Christchurch Covid cases

From Midday Report, 12:10 pm on 28 October 2021

A covid modeller says it's possible dozens of people have already contracted Covid-19 in Christchurch, where queues to get tested are already backing up along streets.

This morning, the Ministry of Health reported two cases have been detected in Ōtautahi.

One of them flew out of Auckland more than a week ago and the other is a family member in the same household.

Both are unvaccinated, and the Covid-19 response minister Chris Hipkins says they are poor users of the Covid tracer app.

Nobody at the Canterbury DHB was available to talk to Te Poutūtanga.

Māni Dunlop spoke to Canterbury University covid modeller Professor Michael Plank who was concerned about reports the case had been in the community for up to two weeks.