There is one new case of Covid-19 in New Zealand today, the Ministry of Health has confirmed.
Photo: 123RF
There was no 1pm media conference today.
In a statement, the ministry said the new case was detected in a recent returnee in managed isolation.
"Today's case arrived from Singapore on 11 November and tested positive around day three of their time in managed isolation. They will be transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility."
There are no new community cases today.
One previously confirmed case from managed isolation has been reclassified as under investigation as it is a suspected historical case, the ministry said.
The total number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 remains at 1,645 and there are 58 active cases in New Zealand.
Yesterday there were 5,298 tests completed for Covid-19, bringing the total number of tests completed to date to 1,184,885.
The ministry reminded people that anyone who has been at locations of interest in the Auckland CBD should check the advice on the ARPHS website regarding testing and also get a test, regardless of symptoms.
"Testing stations in the Auckland area continue to report steady volumes, and we continue to encourage anyone with cold or flu symptoms to get a test and stay home until they receive a negative result."
The NZ Covid Tracer app now has 2,364,900 registered users.
Poster scan numbers have reached 116,664,548 and there have been 4,839,697 manual diary entries created.
November quarantine cluster
The ministry said investigations are continuing to identify the epidemiological link between Case A and Case D, who have the same genome sequence.
"This tells us that Case D, the shop assistant from A-Z Collections, most likely contracted the virus from Case A, the New Zealand Defence Force worker at the Auckland quarantine facility. The investigation is now focused on identifying the exposure event that links the two people, if possible."
Case E is the case reported yesterday as a close contact of Case D, who lives in the same building. The ministry said whole genome sequencing from Case E has now been completed and indicates the same lineage as Case D, with one additional mutation. "This tells us that Case E contracted the virus from Case D."
"We have currently identified 11 close contacts of Case E, and nine of those have returned a negative test result, with two pending. Case E has been at the Auckland quarantine facility since 12 November."
In the UK, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been told to self-isolate after coming into contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19.
According to a Reuters tally, at least 1.3 million people have died from Covid-19 globally, and 54.2m have been infected.
