No New Community Cases; 2 New Cases Of COVID-19 In Managed Isolation; Update On Victoria Travellers

There are no new cases of COVID-19 to report in the community in New Zealand today.

There are two new cases to report in recent returnees in managed isolation facilities since the Ministry’s last update on Friday.

The seven-day rolling average of new cases detected at the border is one. The total number of active cases in New Zealand today is 16. Our total number of confirmed cases is 2,316.

Since 1 January 2021, there have been 64 historical cases, out of a total of 500 cases.

New border cases

Visitors from Victoria Update

The Ministry’s contact tracing team has worked with border agencies to confirm 4626 people flew from Melbourne airport to New Zealand between May 20-25, down from the initial estimate of 5000 travellers.

These 4626 travellers are being contacted by email and instructed to get a test and self-isolate at home or in the accommodation they are staying in until they have a negative result.

These travellers have also been instructed to contact Healthline on 0800 358 5453

if they need further advice or to report if they had been at a location of interest.

https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/exposure-sites

All but 89 of the 4626 travellers have been contacted. Efforts are ongoing to contact these people to ensure they are isolating and being tested.

Slightly less than half of the 4626 people identified have now been tested and returned a negative result. An update on numbers tested will be provided tomorrow.

Anyone who visited the Australian State of Victoria area between 20 - 25 May is required to isolate at their place of residence until they receive a negative COVID-19 test result.

The Melbourne cluster reinforces the critical importance of everyone keeping a record of where they have been by scanning QR codes or keeping a manual diary of their movements. It can help contact tracers quickly find potential close and casual contacts if there is a positive COVID-19 case in New Zealand.

Section 70

To underscore the importance of individuals following the advice they have been given by the public health units or the national contact tracing team, a Section 70 of the Health Act 1956 can be issued.

A Section 70 order enables an authorised Medical Officer of Health to require those in the order to meet public health requirements to undergo testing and to isolate until they receive their result. Any time a person receives a direction from a medical officer of health they must comply with it.

The Section 70 orders relating to recent travellers from Victoria are here:

https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-response-planning/covid-19-epidemic-notice-and-orders#section70

Testing

We recommend travellers from Melbourne call ahead to their testing provider to inform them they need to be tested under the 27 May Section 70 notice. This is to help testing providers manage demands on community testing stations. It also notifies providers not to charge as regardless of whether or not people are symptomatic, testing is free for those affected by the Section 70 notice. This includes for visitors to New Zealand.

For testing locations in Auckland, visit Auckland Regional Public Health Service (ARPHS). For all testing locations nationwide visit theHealthpointwebsite.

Possible symptoms of variant being found in Melbourne

The variant of COVID-19 being found in Melbourne is the B.1.617.1 variant which was first reported in India. It is considered more infectious than the original variant.

The typical symptoms to look out for include:

· a new or worsening cough

· fever (at least 38C)

· shortness of breath

· a sore throat

· sneezing and runny nose

· and temporary loss of smell.

Some people may present with atypical symptoms, with or without typical symptoms. These include new onset of:

· fever

· diarrhoea

· headache

· myalgia (muscle pain)

· nausea/vomiting

· or confusion/irritability.

Testing information

The total number of tests processed by laboratories to date is 2,137,414.

Laboratories processed 5,484 tests yesterday. The seven-day rolling average is 4,348.

NZ COVID Tracer

NZ COVID Tracer now has 2,836,677 registered users.

Poster scans have reached 276,845,882 and users have created 10,409,044 manual diary entries.

There have been 583,911 scans in the last 24 hours to midday yesterday.

© Scoop Media