New Zealand / Covid 19

10 new cases of Covid-19 in MIQ, ship Playa Zahara in quarantine berth

13:26 pm on 18 July 2021

There have been 10 new cases of Covid-19 in managed isolation and quarantine over the past two days and none in the community, the Ministry of Health has announced.

Photo: 123rf.com

The figure includes three of the four Viking Bay mariners who remain aboard the ship quarantined at Queens Wharf in Wellington.

Welfare and health checks were being carried out daily, and plans were in place should any of them become unwell, the Ministry said in a statement this afternoon.

Two further cases were reported deemed historical and not considered infectious.

A further case from India reported on Friday as historical had now been reclassified as under investigation and had been removed from New Zealand's tally.

Fourteen previously reported case had now recovered, it said.

The number of active cases in New Zealand is 45.

Since 1 January 2021, there have been 99 historical cases, out of a total of 641 cases.

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

New Zealand's total number of confirmed cases is 2458.

Playa Zahara docked

Meanwhile, the Ministry confirmed fishing ship Playa Zahara had arrived into Lyttelton Port this morning and was now secured at a quarantine berth within the port exclusion zone.

It said a comprehensive safety plan had been developed and the risk to port workers and the public was deemed low.

Testing carried out at Port Taranaki on 13 July found 16 of the 18 crew members positive for Covid-19. All crew members will be retested today.

"In accordance with the plan developed by Canterbury DHB's public health team and the Government cross agency team, five of the crew members will isolate aboard the fishing vessel and the remainder will be transported to managed isolation and quarantine facilities in Christchurch," the statement said.

"Welfare and health checks will be conducted on the crew remaining aboard the vessel and plans are in place should any of them become unwell. Customs will maintain a presence at the port throughout the operation."

Victoria situation

The Ministry said officials were closely monitoring the situation in Covid-19 hit Victoria.

Anyone who was in Victoria since 8 July is being encouraged to keep checking the Victoria Health website for locations of interest which continue to be announced.