Health authorities have now identified 15 locations visited by a family of three when they may have been infectious with Covid-19.
(File image). Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
Two of the people had been in managed isolation in Christchurch and caught the charter flight to Auckland with another person who later tested positive for Covid-19.
The family travelled to Taupō last Friday, where they joined 18 others from Bay of Plenty, Wellington, Christchurch and Hamilton.
There are now a total of 35 close contacts linked to the family. Eight have returned negative test results and the remaining have been or are in the process of being tested, but all were now self-isolating, according to the Ministry of Health.
The ministry has published an extended list of shops and tourist businesses visited by the family, and says anyone who was at the same place during the relevant timeframes is considered a "casual contact", with a low risk of exposure.
If anyone becomes unwell, they should phone Healthline and stay home.
Three additional community testing centres have been stood up, one in Taupō and two in Rotorua.
The National Contact Tracing team has so far issued 15 exposure notices through the COVID Tracer App yesterday.
Locations of interest in relation to recent cases:
- McDonald's Frankton, Frankton, Sunday 20 September, 8.20pm-9pm
- Subway, Robert St, Taupō, Sunday 20 September, 5pm-5.15pm
- KFC Taupō, Robert St, Taupō Sunday 20 September, 5pm-5.15pm
- Z Turangi Service Station - Cnr State Highway 1 and Pihanga Road, Turangi Sunday 20 Septembr, 11am-11.12am
- Taupō Tandem Skydiving, Taupō Airport, Saturday, 19 September, 2pm-3.15pm.
- DeBretts Hotsprings, Taupō, Friday, 18 September, 2.40pm-6.45pm
- McDonald's Tokoroa, Tokoroa, Friday 18 September, 9.30pm-9.44pm
- Kmart St Lukes, Westfield St Lukes, Auckland, Thursday 17 September, 5pm-7.20pm and Monday, 14 September, 6pm-8pm
- Farmers St Lukes, Westfield St Lukes, Auckland, Thursday 17 September, 5pm-7.20pm
- Mountain Warehouse, Westfield St Lukes, Auckland, Thursday 17 September, 5pm-7.20pm
- Just Cuts, Westfield St Lukes, Thursday 17 September, 4pm-5pm
- Dress Smart Outlet Shopping (Jacqui E, Max, Fila, Puma), Onehunga Auckland, Wednesday 16 September, 2.45pm-5pm
- Lotus supermarket, Mt Roskill, Auckland, Saturday 12 September, 7pm-8pm
- Briscoes St Lukes, Morningside, Auckland, Saturday 12 September, 4.30pm-6pm
- Christchurch Airport - departures, Harewood, Friday 11 September, 9.30am-1.30pm
For more details about weekend testing and where to get a Covid-19 test in the locations from which the travellers came, visit these links:
- Auckland, visit Auckland Regional Public Health Service's website
- Bay of Plenty, visit the DHB's website
- Waikato, visit the DHB's website
- Wellington, visit Capital & Coast DHB's website
- Christchurch, visit Canterbury DHB's website.
- 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
Skydiving business temporarily closes, mayor still optimistic
Meanwhile, Taupō Tandem Skydiving - which the family had visited recently prior to testing positive to Covid-19 - is voluntarily closed for business.
Photo: Google Maps
The family travelled to Taupō between 18 and 20 September, and visited places including DeBretts Spa resort, Tandem skydiving, KFC, Subway and a Z petrol station.
Taupō Tandem Skydiving chief executive Hamish Funnell said 12 staff had been tested and were awaiting results.
A skydiving instructor has also gone into 14 days of isolation after jumping off with one of the positive cases.
He said his business would remain closed until they had received negative results and a deep clean was completed.
Funnell said six people were on the aircraft with one of the infected family members and health officials were tracing close contacts.
Taupō Mayor David Trewavas is still encouraging people to visit the town, despite the situation.
Listen to the full interview with Taupō Mayor David Trewavas here
Trewavas said people in Taupō were disappointed about the news but carried on with their normal lives.
Affected businesses were operating as normal after being closed for deep cleans, he said.
People were also aware of contact tracing and hygiene practice, he said, and he did not expect tourism in the town to be affected.