New Zealand records Fresh cases of COVID19

[lovetravellingoz]

NZ has just had its second death from the NZ second wave.


Media release- NZ Ministry of Health

05 September 2020

The Ministry of Health is very sad to report the second COVID-19 related death in as many days.

The Ministry can confirm that the former Prime Minister of the Cook Islands Dr Joseph Williams QSO passed away last night in Auckland City Hospital.
Dr Williams, who was in his 80s, was also a widely regarded member of health services in both New Zealand and the Cook Islands. He was patron of the Pasifika Medical Association.

Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield described him as a well-known politician, physician and published author.

“Dr Williams was seen as a leading figure in the Cook Islands medical community and he will be sadly missed.”

Dr Williams was admitted to Auckland City Hospital on 13 August and passed away yesterday evening.

“Our thoughts are with his family and community at this time of loss and grief.

"Today’s sad news again reinforces the importance of our shared vigilance against COVID-19, the very serious consequences the virus can carry with it, and the measures we all need to take to stop the spread, break any chain of transmission and prevent deaths."

This means the number of COVID-19 related deaths in New Zealand is now 24.

Post automatically merged: Sep 5, 2020

Two new COVID-19 deaths in New Zealand

A former prime minister of the Cook Islands turned Auckland GP is one of two people in New...

www.canberratimes.com.au

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Today NZ Ministry of Health upadte and Media Release.


Media release
06 September 2020

Today there are five new confirmed cases of COVID-19 to report in New Zealand – one of these is an imported case detected in a managed isolation facility. Four are community cases.

All community cases are linked to the wider Auckland August cluster and are epidemiologically linked to the Mt Roskill Evangelical Church group.

The one imported case is a man in his 20s who arrived from India on 23 August and who has been staying in an Auckland isolation facility. He is a close contact of an existing confirmed case and tested positive following routine testing around day 12 of his stay. He is now in quarantine.

A Christchurch person discussed yesterday as being under further investigation has now been confirmed as not a case of COVID-19. The investigation has been closed.

Since August 11, our contact tracing team has identified 3,217 close contacts of cases, of which 3,187 have been contacted and are self-isolating, and we are in the process of contacting the rest.

There are 75 people linked to the community cluster who remain at the Auckland quarantine facility, which includes 58 people who have tested positive for COVID-19.

There are four people with COVID-19 in hospital today; two are in North Shore Hospital’s general ward, one is in a general ward at Middlemore Hospital and one is in ICU in Waikato Hospital.

One of the previously reported cases is now considered to have recovered.

With today’s five new cases, our total number of active cases is 116. Of those, 39 are imported cases in MIQ facilities, and 77 are community cases.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

4 new cases of COVID-19
Media release by the NZ Ministry of Health

07 September 2020

There are four new cases of COVID-19 to report in New Zealand today.

Two are imported cases detected in MIQ facilities. The first is a male child and the second is a woman in her 20s - both arrived from India on August 23 and they are each a close contact of separate previously reported confirmed cases.

There are two new cases in the community both linked to the Auckland August cluster.

The first is a close contact of an existing confirmed case that has been epidemiologically linked to the cluster. The second is a household contact of a confirmed case linked to the Mt Roskill Evangelical Church sub-cluster. Both were already in isolation.

Since August 11, our contact tracing team has identified 3,224 close contacts of cases, of which 3,199 have been contacted and are self-isolating, and we are in the process of contacting the rest.

There are 70 people linked to the community cluster who remain in the Auckland quarantine facility, which includes 52 people who have tested positive for COVID-19 and their household contacts.

Today there are four people in hospital with COVID-19 – three are stable and in isolation on a ward - one in Middlemore and two in North Shore hospital. The fourth person is in Waikato Hospital in ICU.

There are two previously reported cases who are considered to have recovered today – both community cases.

With today’s four new cases, our total number of active cases is 118. Of those, 41 are imported cases in MIQ facilities, and 77 are community cases.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

New cases in NZ keep tricling along with 4 more community cases today.

6 new cases of COVID-19
Media release New Zealand Ministry of Health
08 September 2020

There are six new cases of COVID-19 to report in New Zealand today.

Two are imported cases detected in MIQ facilities. One is a man in his 20s who arrived from the Philippines on September 3 and was at a managed isolation facility when he tested positive on day 3 of his stay.

The second case is a female in her late teens who arrived on the same flight from the Philippines and also tested positive on day 3.
There are four new cases in the community, all linked to the Mt Roskill Evangelical Fellowship Church group within the Auckland August cluster. Auckland Regional Public Health is actively tracing and testing their contacts.

Since August 11, our contact tracing team has identified 3,274 close contacts of cases, of which 3,228 have been contacted and are self-isolating, and we are in the process of contacting the rest.

There are 69 people linked to the community cluster who remain in the Auckland quarantine facility, which includes 52 people who have tested positive for COVID-19 and their household contacts.

Today there are four people in hospital with COVID-19 – two are stable and in isolation on wards - one in Middlemore and one in North Shore hospitals. Two are in ICU, at North Shore and Waikato hospitals.

With today’s six new cases and one additional recovered case, our total number of active cases is 123. Of those, 43 are imported cases in MIQ facilities, and 80 are community cases.

 

[jakeseven7]

I wonder if NZ will now transition to a NSW style model of managing this now...
They can't keep on yo-yoing with these lockdowns....

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

I wonder if NZ will now transition to a NSW style model of managing this now...
They can't keep on yo-yoing with these lockdowns....

FIrstly NZ have not really yo-yo’ed. So far all have been linked to the current outbreak in my observation. Next week election writs are due. If they go ahead with the writs as expected then I think it’s unlikely they will increase lockdown measures.

 

[jakeseven7]

FIrstly NZ have not really yo-yo’ed. So far all have been linked to the current outbreak in my observation. Next week election writs are due. If they go ahead with the writs as expected then I think it’s unlikely they will increase lockdown measures.

The locked down, then they released thinking it was gone. It hadn't, just had a nap. So they went back to lock down again. Yo yo.

Are they now going for 'suppression' like NSW/VIC/QLD or 'elimination'* nb elimination = impossible??

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Community cases in NZ just keep occurring.....though at a low rate.

6 new cases of COVID-19
Media release from NZ Ministry of Health
09 September 2020

There are six new cases of COVID-19 to report in New Zealand today – all community cases.

All six cases have epidemiological links to existing cases and link back to the Mt Roskill Evangelical Fellowship group.

Many people involved in the Mt Roskill Evangelical Fellowship have been tested over the last 10 days. As we are still seeing cases emerge in this group, we are asking all members of the congregation to be retested. We also ask anyone who may have had contact with members of the Fellowship to be tested, even if they have previously tested negative. People should be tested even if they have no symptoms.

Four of these new cases are linked to a sub-group, associated with a series of bereavement activities, including visits to the household of the bereaved and a funeral.

All close contacts are now isolating and being tested. There are 108 people associated with this group that are self-isolating. A reminder that we provide both welfare support and security, as needed, to people to make this easier.

This is an important part of our management of the Auckland outbreak and ensure that it is contained.

One of the cases reported yesterday is a student at St Dominic’s Catholic College, who last attended school on Friday but left early after starting to feel unwell.
The student was tested over the weekend, and any close contacts who are identified will receive advice on isolating and getting tested.

We are working with the school to arrange testing for all staff and students in the school community. Further information will be available as they are confirmed.
The whole school community is asked to closely monitor their health and contact their GP or Healthline for advice if they become unwell.

Another case reported yesterday is a driver of the Northern Express bus service, and ARPHS will be releasing bus journey details this afternoon, although there are no close contacts from their bus trips.

Since August 11, our contact tracing team has identified 3,346 close contacts of cases, of which 3,305 have been contacted and are self-isolating, and we are in the process of contacting the rest.

There are 74 people linked to the community cluster who remain in the Auckland quarantine facility, which includes 58 people who have tested positive for COVID-19 and their household contacts.

Today there are four people in hospital with COVID-19 – two are stable and in isolation on a ward in North Shore hospital. Two are in ICU, at North Shore and Waikato hospitals.

With today’s six new cases and four additional recovered cases, our total number of active cases is 125. Of those, 43 are imported cases in MIQ facilities, and 82 are community cases

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

Accounting of today’s statistics to 9:00am NZ time, the total outbreak is 175 (including 1 maintenance worker of a quarantine facility), seemingly all connected, over the month 11/8-10/9
- 81 still active
- 92 recovered
- 2 deaths.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

4 new cases of COVID-19
Media release from NZ Ministry of Health.
10 September 2020

There are four new cases of COVID-19 to report in New Zealand today.

Two are community cases linked to the Auckland August cluster and two are imported cases detected at managed isolation facilities.

Of the imported cases, one is a man in his 30s and the other is a woman in her 50s. Both cases arrived in New Zealand on a flight from India on 27 August. They were in managed isolation in Christchurch and tested positive to day 12 testing. Both cases are now in quarantine.

Of our two community cases today, both have epidemiological links to existing cases in the bereavement sub-cluster and back to the Mt Roskill Evangelical Fellowship group.

One factor that it’s important to underline here is that this sub-cluster has come about as a result of a contact of a case having close contact with other people.
As far as we can tell they were unaware they had been infected and were incubating and spreading the virus at the time.

This underscores the importance of close contacts following the public health advice they’re given which includes strict self-isolation even if they don’t have symptoms, and even if they have returned a negative test.

We are aware that church leaders are actively encouraging all members of the congregation to retest by Friday and to comply with other public health advice such as self-isolation.

As a result of this cooperation, by 8am today, labs had registered new tests for 64% of the congregation (213 of the 332 people).

There are 101 close contacts associated with this sub-cluster. Public Health officials make daily phone calls to close contacts to conduct symptom checks. Teams engaged in these checks are reporting a high degree of compliance.

Auckland public health has good testing coverage and has only needed to set up one additional testing site in Mt Roskill. It’s located at the Mt Roskill War Memorial, and is open from 9am to 4pm.

There are also pop-up testing stations that can move to new locations every couple of days to respond to community need.

The school deep clean at St Dominic’s has been completed and testing of all staff and students is well underway.

Many members of the school community have been tested since they were informed of the case on Tuesday afternoon.

Testers have been supplied with a surveillance code for testing of asymptomatic members of the school community so it can keep track of the numbers.

As at 11am today, labs had registered 561 tests against this code. There will also have been additional tests where the person did not specify they were connected with St Dominic’s.

Staff and students have been provided with access to two dedicated testing centres not open to the general public. This means they can be tested without long waits and the results can be processed as quickly as possible – tests from these sites are prioritised at laboratories.

The vast majority of students at St Dominic’s are casual contacts, and being tested as a precaution. If these students and staff are well and have no symptoms of COVID-19, they do not need to self-isolate, while waiting for test results.

Close contacts have been advised they need to stay in self-isolation for 14 days, even if their test result is negative.

There are now 72 people linked to the community cluster who remain in the Auckland quarantine facility, which includes 56 people who have tested positive for COVID-19 and their household contacts.

Since August 11, our contact tracing team has identified 3,372 close contacts of cases, of which 3,354 have been contacted and are self-isolating, and we are in the process of contacting the rest.

Today there are three people in hospital with COVID-19 – one is in isolation on a ward in North Shore Hospital. Two are in ICU, at North Shore and Waikato hospitals.

With today’s four new cases and nine additional recovered cases, our total number of active cases is 120. Of those, 39 are imported cases in MIQ facilities, and 81 are community cases.

 

[moa999]

Idiots in NZ as well

'Deliberate, malicious': stop spreading Covid misinformation, says New Zealand minister | New Zealand | The Guardian

Health authorities struggle to lock down cluster at Auckland evangelical church after some people refused to co-operate

amp.theguardian.com

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Only one community case in NZ in the last 24 hrs.

So the virus may finally be petering out.


1 new case of COVID-19
Media release from NZ Ministry of Health
11 September 2020

There is one new community case of COVID-19 to report in New Zealand today.

The new case has an epidemiological link to an existing case and is associated with the Mt Roskill Evangelical Fellowship bereavement events group.

There are a number of inter-related cases and contacts who may have been involved with both the Mt Roskill Evangelical Fellowship sub-cluster, and the bereavement sub-cluster.

We have worked with ARPHS to refine our information to more clearly identify those whose source of infection occurred at the bereavement events.
As a result, we can now say there are 33 cases in the Mt Roskill Evangelical Fellowship group and 13 cases in the bereavement sub-cluster, which includes the cases whose source of infection was the bereavement events.

Church leaders are actively encouraging all members of the congregation to be retested, and at 8am this morning our laboratories had registered new tests for 82 per cent of the congregation. We want to thank them for their participation in contributing to our efforts to control the wider Auckland cluster.

 

[jakeseven7]

Only one community case in NZ in the last 24 hrs.

So the virus may finally be petering out.


1 new case of COVID-19
Media release from NZ Ministry of Health
11 September 2020

There is one new community case of COVID-19 to report in New Zealand today.

The new case has an epidemiological link to an existing case and is associated with the Mt Roskill Evangelical Fellowship bereavement events group.

There are a number of inter-related cases and contacts who may have been involved with both the Mt Roskill Evangelical Fellowship sub-cluster, and the bereavement sub-cluster.

We have worked with ARPHS to refine our information to more clearly identify those whose source of infection occurred at the bereavement events.
As a result, we can now say there are 33 cases in the Mt Roskill Evangelical Fellowship group and 13 cases in the bereavement sub-cluster, which includes the cases whose source of infection was the bereavement events.

Church leaders are actively encouraging all members of the congregation to be retested, and at 8am this morning our laboratories had registered new tests for 82 per cent of the congregation. We want to thank them for their participation in contributing to our efforts to control the wider Auckland cluster.


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Yes like last time

Off to have a nap then back when it’s bored.

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

Given the report on that particular church, NZ Health has one hand tied behind it back on controlling this cluster....sigh.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Yes like last time

Off to have a nap then back when it’s bored.

Or more likely when it gets re-introduced into NZ again from outside of NZ.

This second wave had a different genome to the cases in the first wave. Well technically two as there was also the quarantine maintenance worker, but that was an outbreak of just one person.


And yes sooner or later there will be a re-infection into NZ again from hotel quarantine or sea/air transport workers etc and off it goes again. But that it has been controlled is a good thing. This is all part of the "new-normal".

 

[VPS]

I may have missed but I'm assuming NZ still isn't sure where this latest outbreak came from

 

[jakeseven7]

I may have missed but I'm assuming NZ still isn't sure where this latest outbreak came from

They haven’t

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

I may have missed but I'm assuming NZ still isn't sure where this latest outbreak came from

They haven’t

THey tried and couldn’t find conclusive evidence, either from surfaces at the cold storage or other positives (like even ship crew, flight crew, etc)

 

[Seat0B]

I may have missed but I'm assuming NZ still isn't sure where this latest outbreak came from

Exactly what I was just thinking @VPS. It's quite disconcerting that they have not been able to identify a source so that avenue could be looked at and restricted so that it does not happen again. Given that we now seem to be aiming for elimination here in Aus, it would be good to be able to say for sure that it was imported via quarantine pax or even on a surface so that attention could be focused on those activities.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Exactly what I was just thinking @VPS. It's quite disconcerting that they have not been able to identify a source so that avenue could be looked at and restricted so that it does not happen again. Given that we now seem to be aiming for elimination here in Aus, it would be good to be able to say for sure that it was imported via quarantine pax or even on a surface so that attention could be focused on those activities.

Apart from those (hotel quarantine - genomic testing does not work on all past samples as sometimes the virus cannot be grown) and surfaces in freight (highly unlikely):

• Air crew, including on airfreighters
• Crews on merchant ships
• Staff at airports and seaports who contact the above
• Drugrunners