Fifty-four Auckland hospital staff who were involved in treating a woman with a "probable" case of coronavirus have been stood down.
Director General of Public Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield gave an update on the Covid-19 situation in New Zealand this afternoon, reporting no new cases of the coronavirus.
New Zealand has five people confirmed with the illness and two probable cases. Probable cases mean laboratory testing has not confirmed Covid-19, but signs point to it being a likely case, Mr Bloomfield explained.
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One of those probable cases was a woman in her 70s who had been in hospital for a respiratory illness but was later discharged.
The woman, who was on the quarantined Grand Princess cruise ship , is now in North Shore hospital for an unrelated-condition, but Mr Bloomfield said Waitemata District Health Board had stood down 54 hospital staff for 14 days who were involved in her care during her earlier admission to hospital. All would need to be well before they return to work.
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The first staff members who were possibly exposed will be clear of the 14 day stand down period by Wednesday. They and other staff will be progressively returning to work. If they remain well, all staff will be back at work by next Monday.
Br Bloomfield said the Waitemata DHB had assured has been no impact on clinical care from these stand downs, and the DHB continues to provide services as usual.
Kiwis on the Grand Princess cruise
On Friday, the Ministry of Health was notified about eight New Zealanders who travelled previously on the Grand Princess, currently in quarantine off California. Of the eight people on that previous cruise, five were well and passed the 14-day period of concern. The other two passengers have mild symptoms, have been tested and are in self isolation. One test result is negative, with the other pending.
In a statement, the Ministry of Health said it was taking the same precautionary actions for a probable cases as it does for a positive case.
As well as the woman at North Shore Hospital, the other probable case is the father of case three who had recently travelled back to New Zealand from Iran.
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