22 Mar 2021

Covid-19 update: Eight cases in MIQ, none in community - Ministry

1:22 pm on 22 March 2021

Eight new active Covid-19 cases have been found in managed isolation since yesterday, the Ministry of Health says, plus one historical case.

Doctor holding swab test tube for 2019-nCoV analyzing. Coronavirus test. Blue medical gloves and protective face mask for protection against covid-19 virus. Coronavirus and pandemic

Photo: 123rf

Another four recovered cases since the ministry's report yesterday brought active cases to 63, the ministry said in a written statement this afternoon.

The seven-day rolling average of new cases detected at the border is 4.

The historical case was a person who was in self isolation after showing flu-like symptoms, but testing showed the case was historical and not considered infectious. They had arrived in New Zealand from India on 24 October last year.

Three cases were identified on day 12 testing, two on day three testing, and three on day zero testing.

Total confirmed cases is at 2106, and the new historical case today brings the count since 1 January to 41.

See all RNZ coverage of Covid-19

Some 2690 tests were processed yesterday - a Sunday, which typically has lower testing numbers - with a seven-day rolling average of 4447 tests.

Yesterday the Ministry reported eight new cases in managed isolation for the previous two days, as well as one new historical case, in a person who departed for Singapore earlier this month.

The ministry has recently been providing its Covid-19 updates on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. The next update is expected on Wednesday.

New online tool for vaccination groups

The ministry also announced a new online tool which can help people work out which vaccination group they belong to.

People could fill out the questionnaire about their health, location, job and life situation to find which of the four main vaccination groups they are in, and when they can expect to get their vaccine.

The tool does not save the data people provide once users leave the web page, and people need not provide information that could identify them, Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said.

"It also provides more information about who is in each group - so if you're a healthcare worker or work in a long-term residential environment, for example, it will provide an indication when you can expect to get vaccinated," he said.

MIQ recording 100 complaints a day

People travelling back into New Zealand, or attempting to, and frustrated with the Managed Isolation and Quarantine systemhave made about 100 formal complaints a day.

Rooms in quarantine are being booked about 16 weeks in advance, but when new spaces in June and July were released, the website logged about one million hits, and crashed under the demand.

About 20 percent of the complaints were from people who wanted to be allowed home sooner and had made emergency allocation applications. MIQ's deputy chief executive Megan Main said about 160 are submitted a week, and more than half are declined.

  • 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

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