There are no other new cases of Covid-19 in the community today, after a managed isolation worker in Christchurch was confirmed to have contracted the virus yesterday, Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said.
There are, however, four new cases in New Zealand's managed isolation and quarantine facilities today.
They include a person who arrived from Kabul via Dubai. That person tested positive around day 12.
Another arrived in New Zealand on October 21 from London via Doha and Brisbane. They also tested positive around day 12.
One of the new cases arrived from the United States on October 29 via Sydney. They tested positive around day three.
The final new imported case arrived from the United States via Doha and Brisbane. They tested positive around day three.
All four new imported cases are in quarantine in Auckland.
The positive case is a staff worker at an isolation hotel where there was a coronavirus outbreak among dozens of fishermen from overseas. (Source: Other)
After 11 cases recovered today, New Zealand now has 75 active cases of Covid-19, Bloomfield said.
The total number of confirmed cases since the pandemic began is now 1612.
Yesterday, 2455 tests for Covid-19 were processed.
Yesterday's positive community case, a member of the health team working at the Sudima isolation hotel near Christchurch Airport, was announced last night by the Ministry of Health.
The person tested negative Thursday as part of the Government's routine testing of those on the frontline, but developed mild symptoms at the weekend.
The infected person visited Countdown Beckenham on Colombo Street on Sunday. The store has undergone a deep clean and security footage is being reviewed.
Bloomfield said the new case is a reminder to use the NZ Covid Tracer app, with a low number of people who scanned in at Countdown at a similar time.
"There were less than 20 people who had scanned in and I think we can and should be doing better than that," he said.
"You never know when or where that information will be useful so please do continue to use the app."
Canterbury District Health Board today informed parents of Cashmere High School students that a student at the school was a close contact of the new community case.
Bloomfield said there is no need for anyone in the school community to get a Covid-19 test unless they feel ill, and they don't have to isolate. He said it is "business as usual" at the school today.
The student has tested negative for the virus but will remain in isolation for 14 days, as well as being re-tested on day five and day 12, Bloomfield said.
Staff also on shift at the same time as the health worker are being contacted and tested if they haven't already done so in the past day or so for routine testing.
Prior to yesterday, the last time New Zealand had a community case of the coronavirus was Friday, October 23.
Bloomfield said there is plenty of capacity for Covid-19 testing, and he urged anyone worried about the new community case to contact Healthline for advice.
Mariners quarantining at the Sudima isolation hotel who were due to finish managed isolation have had their stay extended for at least 24 hours as an additional precaution as health officials investigate how the staff member became infected.
Further genome sequencing of eight international mariners who have tested positive for Covid-19 has shown there are three different lineages found in this group.
When combined with the results from previous genome sequencing of 11 others in this group, it was found that none of these lineages had been seen in cases in New Zealand prior to their arrival and all are consistent with overseas infection.
Genome sequencing of the staff member working at the Christchurch managed isolation facility who tested positive yesterday is expected to be available later today.
"I understand that there is intense public interest in each individual case here and it's just important to bear in mind, as I've said before, the virus is the problem. People are not the problem, they are the solution," Bloomfield said.
"We have seen that once again here with this very dedicated worker who despite having had a negative test a couple of days before sought another test once they became symptomatic."
There are now 2,337,200 users registered on NZ COVID Tracer app.
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