There are three new cases of Covid-19 in managed isolation in New Zealand today.
Photo: 123rf.com
There was no media briefing today - instead the Ministry of Health released a statement.
It said of the three new cases, two are active cases and one is historical. There are no new community cases and no active community cases of Covid in the country.
One of the active cases is a person who arrived in New Zealand on 7 December. The country of origin is not yet available, the ministry said. The person tested positive on arrival and have been transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility.
The second person arrived on 3 December from the United Kingdom via the United Arab Emirates. They tested positive at routine testing at around day 3. They have also been transferred to the quarantine facility.
The historical case is a person who arrived in New Zealand on 2 December from the United Kingdom via Singapore.
"This person tested positive at routine testing at around day 3. Further investigation indicated this is a historical case, now recovered. This person is in a Christchurch quarantine facility," the ministry said.
The ministry said there is also a suspected historical case onboard a ship from Japan.
It was detected in a crew member on the CTG Cobalt which had docked in the Port of Tauranga from Japan and is now en-route to Timaru
"No crew members have come ashore, so there is a very low risk of transmission to the New Zealand community," the ministry said.
It said the crew member returned a weak positive Covid-19 test, with a high CT value, indicating an old infection.
"It appears most likely that this crew member had Covid-19 some time ago. They have no symptoms, are recovered and are no longer infectious."
The CTG Cobalt arrived in New Zealand waters on 6 December after departing Japan on 19 November.
The ministry said all other crew members have tested negative and have been on board the vessel, effectively in isolation for 17 days for the duration of their voyage.
Two previously reported cases have now recovered, bringing the total number of active cases to 55.
"Until the current investigation by public health staff is concluded, no crew members will be allowed to leave the vessel."
"This case is not yet reported in our official figures while it remains under investigation."
The total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases is New Zealand is now 1732.
Yesterday there were 6397 Covid-19 tests processed, bringing the total number of tests completed to date to 1,321,598.
From today, ministry updates on Covid-19 cases are being reduced to four times a week - Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.
Six new cases in managed isolation and quarantine facilities were announced yesterday. It was also announced that the Pakistan cricket team's day 12 tests have all come back negative.
- If you have symptoms of the coronavirus, call the NZ Covid-19 Healthline on 0800 358 5453 (+64 9 358 5453 for international SIMs) or call your GP - don't show up at a medical centre
