Coronavirus: New Zealand has one new case of COVID-19 in the community

Publish Date
Sunday, 18 October 2020, 1:07PM

Today New Zealand has one new case of COVID-19 in the community, says Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield.

The man was a worker at Ports of Auckland and the man returned a positive yesterday afternoon.

On Wednesday 14 October he was in New Plymouth working on a ship at the port.

That ship is on route to Napier and arrives there this afternoon.

Plans are in place to isolate the crew when it arrives in Napier. Nobody on board is symptomatic.

On Wednesday, he travelled back to Auckland and was at home on Thursday.

Four household contacts are in isolation and have been tested. He was not at Ports of Auckland while infectious.

The man was tested within a few hours of developing symptoms on October 16.

READ MORE:
• 95-year-old Kiwi man reflects on epidemics New Zealand has survived before
• 104-year-old grandmother becomes the oldest person in the world to beat Coronavirus

The man had earlier returned a negative test on October 2, Bloomfield said.

"This is a case that shows our systems are working. We have a clear line of investigation," Bloomfield says.

"This case has been caught early."

It had been 16 days since New Zealand last saw community transmission.

A male in his 30s at Canterbury DHB who tested positive for Covid-19 on October 2 was the last case.

The last Auckland case was on September 24, and was a female between the age of 15 and 19 years at Waitemata DHB.

 

Take your Radio, Podcasts and Music with you