New Zealand / Covid 19

Covid-19: Five new cases in managed isolation today

13:26 pm on 26 October 2020

There are five new cases of Covid-19 in managed isolation, and no new community cases in New Zealand today.

The Sudima Hotel in Christchurch which is being used as an isolation facility. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon

There was no media conference today. The total number of confirmed cases is now at 1584.

In a statement, the Ministry of Health said three of the new cases were from the fishing crew at the Sudima Hotel Christchurch Airport, which brings the total number of isolating crew members who have tested positive to 32.

They were tested at day nine because they were part of the group who had previously been in close contact with other confirmed cases.

They have been transferred to a quarantined area, along with the other mariners who had earlier tested positive.

The two remaining positive cases reported today include a family member of a positive case who is a recent returnee, and a returnee who arrived from Ethiopia via Dubai.

They are all in quarantine in Auckland's quarantine facility.

The ministry has also reported on the preliminary results from genome sequencing of two community cases linked to the port worker who tested positive after working aboard the Sofrana Surville.

It shows that all three have an identical form of the virus, which the ministry says is further evidence that their infections are from a common source.

The ship is currently docked in Australia, where authorities are doing genome sequencing on three crew members who tested positive on arrival in Brisbane after leaving New Zealand. Those results are pending.

Earlier today, official figures revealed that 32 people breached managed isolation rules during a 58-day period between April and June.

Testing

Yesterday, laboratories completed 3038 tests for Covid-19, bringing the total number of tests completed to date to 1,070,181.

The ministry says testing has continued at a steady level in Auckland, with metropolitan DHBs reporting 478 people swabbed at the region's seven community testing centres.

Seven community testing centres remain open today:

  • Northcote Community Testing Centre
  • Northcare Accident and Medical
  • Whānau House in Henderson
  • Western Springs Community Testing Centre
  • Whānau Ora Community Clinic in Wiri
  • Ōtara Community Testing Centre
  • North Harbour stadium carpark in Albany

NZ COVID Tracer

There are now 2,327,600 users registered on NZ COVID Tracer.

The app has recorded a total of 99,460,306 poster scans, and users have created a total of 4,182,114 manual diary entries.

The ministry is strongly encouraging everyone to scan QR codes where ever they go as more people are expected to travel domestically during the Labour Day weekend.

The ministry also thanked health professionals and teams for working during the long weekend.