News
Dr Bloomfield said there were two new cases of Covid-19 to report today, both in managed isolation facilities.
One case in Wellington was now considered recovered, Dr Bloomfield said, so the total number of active cases was 10.
Watch the live briefing here around 1pm:
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
Confirmed cases were at 1165. The Auckland St Maragets cluster is still open.
Since 9 June, testing in managed isolation facilities has been rolled out, there’s been suggestions that people should be tested at the borders. Dr Bloomfield said the tests performed at day three and day 12 were more effective at identifying cases than that would be.
“The reason why we don’t test arrival, and we wait till day three of isolation is because that is about day five of people’s journey … and we know testing then is more likely to pick up infection than earlier testing from when people may be incubating the virus but not test positive,” he said.
The first was a man in 20s who flew from India, the second was also a man in his 20s travelling from Los Angeles, who tested positive at JetPark Hotel (which he had been at from the start) after experiencing respiratory symptoms.
Yesterday there were two new Covid-19 cases in managed isolation facilities – one at Novotel Auckland Airport and one at the Grand Millennium, also in Auckland.
Since then the government has extended a ban on cruise ships and updated its health order to clarify that travellers must take a test, possibly several, before leaving isolation.
Cabinet is also considering a co-payment scheme for isolation facilities, while capacity is also being increased to meet demand.
Minister in charge of isolation and quarantine facilities, Megan Woods, today told Morning Report the government was looking at a range of options to manage the flow of travellers. She ruled out stopping flights from Covid-19 hotspots or implementing a ballot system.
Source: rnz.co.nz Republished by arrangement.