Ministry of Health Covid-19 update
November 24, 2020
There are two new cases of Covid-19 to report in New Zealand today, both detected in recent returnees in managed isolation. There are no new community cases.
One person arrived on November 17 from India via the United Arab Emirates and tested positive around day 3 of their stay in managed isolation.
One person arrived on November 19 from the United States and tested positive at around day 3 of their stay in managed isolation.
Both are now in quarantine at our Auckland facility.
One previously confirmed case has now been reclassified as historical, meaning there are 53 active cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand.
Our total number of confirmed cases is 1675.
Yesterday our laboratories completed 3560 tests for Covid-19, bringing the total number of tests completed to date to 1,237,736.
Air New Zealand
On Monday, Air New Zealand made the Ministry aware of a possible case of Covid-19 in a staff member who is currently in China.
The Ministry is continuing to investigate the circumstances of this possible case. Currently, we are classifying it as a case under investigation.
Out of an abundance of caution, we are following public health protocols as if this were a confirmed case in New Zealand.
As a result of our investigation to date, we have identified three close contacts in Auckland, all of whom are now in self-isolation. Two additional people are being investigated as close contacts. Other staff on the flight will be initially assessed by Air New Zealand around their contact status. ARPHS will be actively following up any close contacts when they are back in New Zealand.
We have also been investigating locations of interest the person may have visited in the relevant time period prior to departing on their flight.
As a result, we are advising members of the public who were at Animates Manukau on Saturday November 21 between 1.22pm and 2.11pm to get a test. We will be sending a push notification to users of our Covid Tracer app who scanned in around this time. People should note that the risk is deemed to be low and testing is being recommended as a precaution only.
There were also brief visits to a number of other businesses and shops on November 20 and 21. Staff at most of these businesses are being advised to isolate at home and get tested if they develop symptoms while the investigation continues. Members of the public who may have been at these locations are not considered to be at risk.
As further information becomes available, other locations may be notified by ARPHS.
We want to thank the staff member and Air New Zealand for their assistance with our investigation.
NZ Covid Tracer app
The Ministry welcomes yesterday’s endorsement of the NZ Covid Tracer app by the Privacy Commissioner.
This is an important endorsement because we need all New Zealanders to know their privacy is protected when they use the app.
The latest update removes the need for people to provide an email address when registering the app.
This means you can get started with the app without needing to provide any personal information whatsoever.
You choose exactly what personal information and contact details you want to register with the app – all information is optional.
Your digital diary of scanned QR codes is saved securely on your own phone where only you can see it and it continues to be your choice whether you share your diary if a contact tracer gets in touch.
The latest app update also makes it easier to use, and existing users are no longer required to log in periodically.
The app will update automatically for most users over the next week or you can keep an eye out on the App/Play store if you want to do a manual update.
Information on how to manually update the app can be found on the Ministry’s website here: www.health.govt.nz/nz-covid-tracer-qaas.
There are now 2,379,900 registered app users and poster scans have reached 124,595,943. An average of nearly one million scans took place each day over the last week.
