Covid 19 coronavirus: Six new cases in managed isolation

New Zealand hasn't had a community case since last week. Photo / Alex Burton

There are six new Covid-19 cases in managed isolation.

There are no new community cases today - seven days straight since a community case was reported in our country.

All six border cases were identified during routine testing around day three of their stay in managed isolation. One person arrived from the Netherlands via Singapore on October 23, and four people arrived from India on October 24.

Cargo ship leaving Napier

The crew of the cargo ship Ken Rei were all tested for Covid-19 again yesterday. All returned a second negative test result.

The ship will today depart Napier and head for Tauranga.

Toddler travelling from NZ tests positive in Japan

New Zealand health authorities are continuing to work with their Japanese counterparts about a New Zealand child who returned a weak positive Covid-19 test after arriving in Japan on October 23.

"We suspect this is a historical case or a false positive result, and will provide further details when they are available."

Contact tracing card

The Ministry of Health says that the trial programme for the proposed contact tracing card is now moving into the final "on the ground" and "analysis" phases, during which 500-1500 people from Ngongotahâ will wear the cards as they go about their daily lives.

"The ministry has worked closely with Te Arawa and the Universities of Waikato and Otago to co-design these phases of the programme. Te Arawa knows the Ngongotahâ community better than anyone and has the skills and experience needed to support a successful community trial."

Registration starts tomorrow and the trial will finish on November 15.

"The cards use Bluetooth to exchange 'digital handshakes' with each other to keep an anonymised record of participants' close contacts with each other."

Yesterday's cases

Health officials yesterday said there were two new cases of the virus in managed isolation.

The first was a person who arrived from Paris via Dubai and Kuala Lumpur last Friday, October 23.

The second person touched down from London, also via Dubai and Kuala Lumpur, on the same day.

Both tested positive to Covid-19 around day three of their time in managed isolation and were then transferred to the dedicated quarantine facility in Auckland.

Officials also revealed yesterday that four people had since recovered from the virus - taking the total number of active cases in New Zealand to 66.