Ministry of Health Covid-19 update
November 16, 2020
There is one new case of Covid-19 to report in New Zealand today – detected in a recent returnee in managed isolation. There are no new community cases.
Today’s case arrived from Singapore on November 11 and tested positive around day 3 of their time in managed isolation. They will be transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility.
One previously confirmed case from managed isolation has been reclassified as under investigation as it is a suspected historical case.
This means our total number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 remains at 1645.
There are 58 active cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand.
Yesterday our laboratories completed 5298 tests for Covid-19, bringing our total number of tests completed to date to 1,184,885.
Testing stations in the Auckland area continue to report steady volumes, and we continue to encourage anyone with cold or flu symptoms to get a test and stay home until they receive a negative result.
Advice for people who have been at locations of interest in the Auckland CBD should check the advice on the ARPHS website regarding testing and also get a test, regardless of symptoms.
A full list of testing sites in Auckland can be found on the Auckland Regional Public Health Service website. The Ministry of Health website has details of where to get tested around the country.
November quarantine cluster
Investigations continue to identify the epidemiological link between Case A and Case D, who have the same genome sequence. This tells us that Case D, the shop assistant from A-Z Collections, most likely contracted the virus from Case A, the New Zealand Defence Force worker at the Auckland quarantine facility. The investigation is now focused on identifying the exposure event that links the two people, if possible.
Case E is the case reported yesterday as a close contact of Case D, who lives in the same building. Whole genome sequencing from Case E has now been completed and indicates the same lineage as Case D, with one additional mutation. This tells us that Case E contracted the virus from Case D.
We have currently identified 11 close contacts of Case E, and nine of those have returned a negative test result, with two pending. Case E has been at the Auckland quarantine facility since 12 November.
Our thanks go to all the people involved in this cluster, including the cases, who have been highly supportive of efforts to identify and trace close contacts and limit any further spread.
NZ Covid Tracer
NZ Covid Tracer now has 2,364,900 registered users.
Poster scan numbers have reached 116,664,548 and there have been 4,839,697 manual diary entries created.
Being able to rapidly trace contacts and identify locations of interest is key in stopping the virus spreading in our communities.
We encourage everyone to keep a thorough record of their movements – scan the QR code when you see one displayed, and if you are at a friend’s house or somewhere that does not have a code, create a manual diary entry.
It’s a quick and easy thing we can all do to prevent Covid-19 spreading in Aotearoa.
