Ministry of Health Covid-19 update
November 18, 2020
There are three new cases of Covid-19 to report in New Zealand today, all detected in recent returnees in managed isolation. There are no new community cases.
Of the recent returnees who have tested positive for Covid-19:
– One person arrived from the United Kingdom via Dubai on November 14
– Two people arrived from Dubai on 14 November
All three people tested positive during routine testing around day 3 of their time in managed isolation.
There are 64 active cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand.
Our total number of confirmed cases is now 1652.
Yesterday our laboratories processed 8392 tests for Covid-19, bringing the total number of tests completed to date to 1,199,426.
November quarantine cluster
Auckland Regional Public Health Service continues to follow up contacts from existing cases that are part of this cluster, and no further positive results have come back from close contacts of known cases.
Residents at the accommodation facility that the New Zealand Defence Force is using in Auckland where Case A has been staying have all had a second test, and those have all come back negative.
The genome sequencing has shown that Cases A, B, D and E are all part of the same outbreak. We are still awaiting the sequencing from Case C, who is a close contact of Case B.
Epidemiological investigations continue as to how Case D was infected.
Wide testing around these known cases allows us to have greater confidence that there are not possible undetected links in the chain of transmission. Laboratories in Auckland have received more than 22,000 tests from the community since Case D came to light on Thursday, all returning negative results except for Case E, who is a close contact of Case D.
However, we continue to encourage anyone who visited a location of interest during the relevant time period to get tested – to ensure that we quickly identify anyone who may have been infected.
Anyone who develops cold or flu symptoms anywhere in the country should immediately get in touch with their health care provider or Healthline (0800 358 5453) and get a test.
Our systems have the best chance of staying ahead of Covid-19 if everyone who becomes unwell with cold or flu like symptoms, stays at home and seeks a test quickly, and all New Zealanders are keeping track of where they have been and who they have seen.
NZ Covid Tracer app
NZ Covid Tracer now has 2,370,100 registered users.
Poster scans have reached 118,712,806, and users have created 4,907,639 manual diary entries.
Please continue to use the app to scan in to locations displaying a QR code – you never know when you will need to call on your contact tracing diary. The more every person scans, the safer we will all be.
