1 Case Of COVID-19 In Managed Isolation

Today we are reporting 1 case of COVID-19 in managed isolation.

There are no new cases in the community, nor any linked to the Auckland February cluster.

Auckland February cases contact tracing update

Other than the known cases which have been reported, all close contacts associated with the cases households, school and travel group to New Plymouth have returned negative results.

Contact tracing has identified a total of 125 close contacts associated with all cases in this cluster, aside from the positive cases which have previously been reported. Three previously reported close contacts have been ruled out on further investigation and one infant is not required to be tested. Of the remainder, 121 of the close contacts have returned a negative test result. We are awaiting test results for three people - all of whom are from the medical clinic and relate to Case C, which is considered a low risk exposure event.

As at 8.00am this morning, a total of 31 close contacts and 1,413 casual plus contacts have been identified at Papatoetoe High School. The number of casual plus contacts has again decreased as these people were not at school at the time of exposure.

Of the casual plus contacts (that is other students and staff at the school), 1,395 have returned negative results, there is one positive (Case E), and 17 results are still to come. One negative result, reported yesterday has been removed from the tally as that person is no longer a casual plus contact.

We do remind all students and staff at the school to please stay home and have a test if they haven’t already. School is expected to return on Monday 22 February. Close contacts at the school will not be able to return until they have been advised by public health that they can.

As part of our source investigation, LSG Sky Chef staff have also been tested.

All nine contacts in the laundry have returned negative results. Of the 444 people in the wider working environment, 388 are negative and 55 results are still to come (1 positive, Case B).

For the latest information on locations of interest, and to understand if you are a casual or close contact, please see Contact tracing locations of interest.

Testing centres

There are 9 community testing centres available for testing across Auckland this weekend– they are in Takanini, Wiri, Otara, Botany, Balmoral, New Lynn, Henderson and Northcote, as well as the dedicated testing site at Papatoetoe High School.

The pop-up testing centre at the school is open over the weekend and nearby community testing centres are operating extended hours to ensure the school community has convenient access to testing. A COVID-19 test is free wherever you go. Additional testing options will continue to be provided to the school community as needed.

For up-to-date info on all testing locations nationwide, visit the Healthpoint website.

Staying safe this weekend

Aucklanders can keep enjoying their summer if everyone continues with the simple health behaviours that’ll protect your families and others and keep the virus in check:
· Stay home if you’re feeling unwell and get advice about a COVID-19 test
· Wash your hands 
· Keep a record of where you’ve been. Scanning QR codes with the NZ COVID Tracer app makes it easy
· Turn on Bluetooth tracing in the NZ COVID Tracer app
· Wear a face covering on public transport and on domestic flights.

You are also encouraged to wear face coverings in situations where physical distancing is not possible, like in shops.

Businesses also have an important role to play: 
· Put up plenty of QR code posters in your shop/café/restaurant/bar 
· Invite your customers to scan in as they go in 
· Encourage everyone to wash or sanitise their hands

New border case details

One previously reported case has been reclassified as under investigation. That means the total number of active cases in New Zealand remains at 51. Our total number of confirmed cases remains at 1,994.

The total number of tests processed by laboratories to date is 1,658,429.

On Friday, 7,392 tests were processed. The seven-day rolling average up to yesterday is 10,230 tests processed.

Historical cases

Since January 1, there have now been 30 historical cases, out of a total of 184 cases.

NZ COVID Tracer

It is really encouraging to see that people are continuing to scan and numbers remain high.

A total of 1,740,991 scans were recorded for the 24 hours to 1:00pm this Friday, with an average of 1,518,589 scans made each day this week.

NZ COVID Tracer now has 2,668,308 registered users.

All time poster scans have reached 189,636,700 and users have created 7,669,679 manual diary entries.

Please keep up the good work and continue to use the COVID Tracer app to keep track of where you’ve been. Please also continue to scan QR codes wherever you go and turn on Bluetooth tracing in the app dashboard if you haven’t already done so.

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