New Zealand records Fresh cases of COVID19

[lovetravellingoz]

I would dare say NZ tracing this back to Melbourne has as much utility from a cause perspective as us tracing it back to Wuhan. It's not up for debate whether Melbourne has active cases at the moment, but if adjacent states have few infections and you, 4000km away separated by water and with a closed border have many, then perhaps the issue is more local.

Does anyone recall where Melbourne traced the infections to have come from? Oh that's right - from badly administered hotel quarantine, in Melbourne. Where they came from before that is academic at best. Seems in line with the general air of arrogance from the NZ govt that it would have been found to have originated from Melbourne before it was indeed found to have originated from anywhere.

The Kiwis have now checked their second wave genome from their first cluster against some Melbourne cases. Presumably (though not actually reported) they checked against all three strains (would be most silly if they did not) that are part of the second wave in Victoria (NSW most likely now has those 3 plus its own new 4th strain) and not just the two Melbourne Americold employee cases as they would only be linked to one of the three different Vic second wave strains.

I am yet to read what exact country or countries that they think that their second wave can be traced back to. As they have two breaches now as part of their second wave they most likely will have at least two different strains.

Earlier in the outbreak they had reported:
Genome testing of the latest batch of infections has confirmed it is a new strain, officials have said, probably from Australia or Britain.

The Covid-19 genome or strain they carry is B.1.1.1.1 or B-Triple1

By now they should be able to be more precise than this, as the above is too broad.

They had also reported that genome testing of the latest batch of infections has confirmed it is a new strain. ie Not linked to the first wave in NZ. However having said that while genome sequencing of cases in quarantine has not established a link to BTriple1, it has also been reported that not all first wave cases in MIQ were sequenced. So it cannt be 100% ruled out.

By now they should know enough to be able to know the likely country it came most recently came from, and in turn that should allow them to examine possible flights or ships that may have carried the strain that started the second wave in NZ . Ignoring the maintenance work where the source is known.

 

[nutwood]

How fast does the Covid fingerprint change? I'm noting in the comments above that NSW may now have a unique strain, even though it has fairly direct Victorian ancestry. If they weren't so seriously inconvenient, these virus are really interesting beasties!

 

[RooFlyer]

Genomic sequencing to all three of the Vic Second wave strains would have been much more pertinent to do that just worrying about two particular employees (the wild goose chase), as would have been checking the Americold Customs Manifests to see all countries and cities they actually have had of received international freight from. I assume NZ customs does actually keep track of such imports.

I am so sorry you cannot be at peace with someone expressing a different view from you. You originally said that the NZers were 'on a wild goose chase' with their testing re possible Melbourne connection, based in the fact that the company who owned the facilities said there was no direct shipping (which you bolded for emphasis). I reflected that the NZers might be trusted to know what they are doing and later pointed to the NZ reports that the head of the NZ group said that their processes were looking beyond that direct shipping transmission, and I thought that maybe it wasn't a good idea for the authorities to just trust the company and should satisfy themselves. I paid the NZ health authorities the respect for knowing their business.

Now I find it breathtaking that you are still suggesting that you know better than NZ heath as to what testing they should do and facetiously remark that you assume NZ customs keep track of 'such imports'. I dunno, does Australian customs keep track of imported goods after they are cleared through customs? Do Aust Customs track each packet of NZ frozen peas that end up at at Coles' distribution warehouses and then are distributed throughout the country? Do Australian Customs know what imported goods are in my refrigerator? Personally, I wouldn't think so and I wouldn't think it reasonable to expect the NZ Customs people to do so either.

I'm still happy in my opinion that the NZ health authorities should be given the respect to know what they are about. Be at peace to disagree if you do.

Oh, and re your comment above:

much more pertinent to do that just worrying about two particular employees (the wild goose chase),

... recall your original statement, to which I originally replied:

Well with no actual freight between the two Americold facilities that particular transmission path was always a wild goose chase.

If freight was to be involved then it would need to be from a facility that they actually received freight from.

 

[drron]

There was always the possibility if Covid had been transmitted by cold storage freight that the Americold units in Auckland and Melbourne received freight from the same infected facility.
I agree with Rooflyer that NZ was wise to look into that aspect.
Besides we are all reading press and government reports.Not surprising that 2 people come to different conclusions about what has been read.I am sure that there are still others out there with other views on what it all means.Possibly even that Americold had recently had 5G rolled out at both plants.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

There was always the possibility if Covid had been transmitted by cold storage freight that the Americold units in Auckland and Melbourne received freight from the same infected facility.

1/ Except that would have meant a new strain having been introduced into Melbourne, which did not happen. There is no new fourth strain in Vic (just the possible one in NSW from their own breach).
2/ My point was to audit where all Americold freight movements to NZ came from. That would have shown links to any actual infected facilities direct or indirect, and indeed if there were any actual infected Americold facilities supplying the NZ facility.
3/ There was the vastly greater possibility that it had been transmitted through someone in Australia. So my point remains. Check against the three strains in Melbourne and not just two cases which would have only been from one strain. That way you get to exclude a whole country as a transmission route including a whole raft of possible transmission routes.

As I said on Saturday:

So the cross checking is most likely just to rule it out as a possibility (at least from the Melbourne Americold Facility). The only much less plausible path would be Melbourne, to elsewhere in Oz and then onto NZ (and that most likely does not happen). The various experts, including the NZ Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield, also all seem to believe that CV19 transmission caught by this means is extremely unlikely.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

How fast does the Covid fingerprint change? I'm noting in the comments above that NSW may now have a unique strain, even though it has fairly direct Victorian ancestry. If they weren't so seriously inconvenient, these virus are really interesting beasties!

As I understand it there is a minor change with every infection.

And NSW does possibly have a new strain route from the hotel quarantine breach. The strain identified in the guard has been reported as different to the Crossroads Hotel cluster and other outbreaks in Sydney that are linked to Melbourne.

Genome sequencing traced the security guard's infection to a returned overseas traveller who was staying at the Marriott Hotel at Circular Quay earlier this month. ​

​

The security guard worked at the hotel on August 3, 4, 7 and 8. The hotel guest was swabbed on August 2 and received their positive result on August 4.​

​

The security worker developed symptoms on August 11 and was diagnosed on August 15.​

 

[drron]

1/ Except that would have meant a new strain having been introduced into Melbourne, which did not happen. There is no new fourth strain in Vic (just the possible one in NSW from their own breach).
2/ My point was to audit where all Americold freight movements to NZ came from. That would have shown links to any actual infected facilities direct or indirect, and indeed if there were any actual infected Americold facilities supplying the NZ facility.
3/ There was the vastly greater possibility that it has been transmitted through someone in Australia. So my point remains. Check against the three strains in Melbourne and not just two cases which would have only been from one strain. That way you get to exclude a whole country as a transmission route including a whole raft of possible transmission routes.

As I said on Saturday:

As to point 1 not if that shipment had for example come from south west Sydney.
See we can all have different opinions and none especially either of us really doesn't know what the NZ authorities were thinking.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

As to point 1 not if that shipment had for example come from south west Sydney.

Well one could look at all sorts of possibilities, including Americold lying or covering up. As I said 2/ and 3/ rules them out, or identifies a source to further investigate.

See we can all have different opinions and none especially either of us really doesn't know what the NZ authorities were thinking.

Of course. And forums are also all about posting one's opinions etc.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Today's NZ Ministry of Health update. 5 new cases.

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

So total of 80 cases (2 strains) in 9 days.

At least the rate of growth seems to be slowing down. Hopefully NZ Health getting to the last generations.

 

[p--and--t]

Get back over the ditch ....wrong forum perhaps.....lol

Some people from one of the east island states are a bit cheeky.

 

[cambriamarsh]

Hmm seems primal urges repeatedly overrule making sensible decisions over and over (Vic, WA, NZ, QLD .......)

The NZ one was fake news

 

[lovetravellingoz]

11 new cases in NZ today reported by the Ministry of Health. Though 2 are in quarantine

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Note, bolding not my bolding


11 new cases of Covid-19, nine from the community
Updated

There are 11 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 today. Nine have been linked to the existing community, and two are imported from overseas. That brings the total number of active cases up to 105.

Eight people, all linked to the community cluster, are now receiving hospital care for Covid-19. Seven are stable on a ward and one person, at Middlemore Hospital, remains in the intensive care unit.

Five of the new community cases are linked to churches in South Auckland, said Bloomfield, and four are household contacts. There are a total of 223 possible contacts of the cluster from churches, said Bloomfield, 170 of whom have been testing with pending results. He thanked the churches for their cooperation. “It’s been a partnership operation and that’s why we’ve been so successful,” he said.

The possibility that the Rydges Hotel maintenance worker contracted Covid-19 from an elevator still remains an important line of investigation, Bloomfield said.

The total number of confirmed cases is now 1,315. The two new imported cases are a woman in her 30s who travelled from London, and a man in his 50s who came from Bosra, Syria.

Covid-positive St Lukes mall worker now linked to cluster – Bloomfield

Genome sequencing has now confirmed that a St Lukes mall worker who tested positive for the virus does have a connection to the community cluster, despite previously being under investigation.

One specific line of inquiry is that this case and another case may have been on the same bus, said Bloomfield. He reminded people of the importance of wearing masks on public transport. The Auckland bus that may have been the link between two cases was on the morning of August 12.

Bloomfield said AT Hop card data was being used to locate those who were sitting near the positive case. He said the fact the bus trip took place just before Auckland moved to alert level three was promising, as the movement since of those who may have been exposed had been limited.

That means there is just one remaining case under investigation – 88 of the 89 cases not connected to the border are linked to the one cluster.

Live updates, August 21: 11 new cases of Covid-19; no change to alert levels

The latest on New Zealand news and Covid-19 as it returns to the community, updated throughout the day.

thespinoff.co.nz

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Today's Ministry of Health update:

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

So with none of the recent recoveries being from the community cluster, there is total of 95cases (2 strains) in 11 days.

edit: abc COVID live blog just report 2 of today’s cases are under investigation, and hence not yet formally linked to the main community cluster.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

So with none of the recent recoveries being from the community cluster, there is total of 95cases (2 strains) in 11 days.

edit: abc COVID live blog just report 2 of today’s cases are under investigation, and hence not yet formally linked to the main community cluster.

Ministry of Health.

Four are epidemiologically linked to the cluster in Auckland – two are household contacts and two are church contacts. The other two cases reported today remain under investigation.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Down to only 3 new cases today. Only 1 in the community though. 2 in quaratine.

Looks like the outbreak is being choked off.


No new cases outside the linked clusters are bobbing up, and so the source of the outbreak may remain unknown. The good news is that it seems to not have spread widely.

 

[kiwitripper64]

sometimes its good to have a losing score. All eyes on tomorrows meeting to decide on lockdown levels. Still Level 3 in Auckland until Wed. Options include dropping to Level 2 with travel restrictions.
As to the restrictions, Aucklanders are allowed to freely come back to Auckland. The media have run a story about how some Auckland travellers are "stranded down south" with limited flights back to Auckland. As if there was no option to fly to Wellington, Rotorua, Hamilton etc and catch a bus or rent a car. Worst clickbait non news of the day.

 

[jakeseven7]

Down to only 3 new cases today. Only 1 in the community though. 2 in quaratine.

Looks like the outbreak is being choked off.

Perhaps more like put into ‘hibernation’ rather than choked off, just sleeping until the next outbreak pops up in a few days/weeks/months.

Like QLD, hopefully this experience convinces NZ they can manage community transmission at these levels and we see some sensible and rational border discussions after the election.