Ministry of Health Covid-19 update
December 18, 2020
There are 10 new cases of Covid-19 to report in managed isolation in New Zealand since our last media statement on Wednesday.
There are no new cases in the community.
Two previously reported cases have now recovered. The total number of active cases in New Zealand is 51. Our total number of confirmed cases is 1754.
– One case arrived on December 4 from Netherlands via Singapore. This person tested positive at routine testing around day 12 and has been transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility.
– One case arrived on December 5 from Italy via the United Arab Emirates. This person tested positive at routine testing around day 12 and has been transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility.
– Two cases arrived on December 10 from the United States. These people tested positive at routine testing around day 3 and are now in quarantine in a facility in Christchurch.
– Two cases travelling separately arrived on December 12 from India via the United Arab Emirates. They both tested positive during day 3 testing and have been transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility.
– One case arrived on December 13 from Germany via the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia. This person tested positive at routine testing around day 3 and has been transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility.
– One case arrived on December 13 from the United Kingdom via the United Arab Emirates. This person tested positive at routine testing around day 3 and has been transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility.
– One case arrived on December 13 from the United Kingdom. This person tested positive at routine testing around day 3 and has been transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility.
– One case arrived on December 13 . This person’s travel itinerary is still being confirmed. This person tested positive at routine testing around day 3 and has been transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility.
The total number of tests processed by laboratories to date is 1,363,124.
Surveillance and testing report and contact tracing addendum
Two reports have been released today; one regarding surveillance and testing, and the other regarding contract tracing.
Of 13 recommendations in the Surveillance and Testing Report, all have been addressed, and actions have either already been implemented or are underway.
The Contact Tracing Addendum includes 15 recommendations and a response to each recommendation is underway.
Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said the health system had responded on an unprecedented scale at speed to eliminate Covid-19 from our communities.
“The response has not been without flaws, but the Ministry and wider system have learnt, reviewed and adjusted along the way to continually improve our response.
“New Zealanders should have confidence that we have responded to four outbreaks since the Auckland August cluster without needing to change Alert Levels – this is a reflection of the strengthened systems that have adapted since the beginning of the pandemic.”
Infection prevention and control audits of managed isolation and quarantine facilities
The Ministry of Health has today released the results of two audits into infection prevention and control (IPC) at all 32 managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) facilities around New Zealand.
IPC measures include physical distancing, use of PPE, testing, daily health checks, and cleaning and maintenance processes.
MIQ facilities are an important part of our border measures to keep Covid-19 out of the community. It’s critical to the health of the country that MIQ facilities are well-maintained and any infection brought in by people entering New Zealand cannot spread into the community.
The IPC requirements are captured in a set of Standard Operating Procedures used by all the MIQ facilities, taking into account their individual circumstances.
The requirements are continually updated to reflect our evolving understanding of how the virus works and the latest expert health advice.
The majority of recommendations for improvement in both audits were addressed within two weeks of the findings. These audits will serve as a baseline for future audits, which will be conducted regularly.
The audit results are available on the Ministry’s website.
NZ Covid Tracer
NZ Covid Tracer now has 2,411,500 registered users.
Poster scans have reached 140,520,061 and users have created 5,660,465 manual diary entries.
