No Community Cases; 2 New Cases In Managed Isolation; 2 Historical Cases; Taranaki Wastewater Update

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

There are two positive cases of COVID-19 to report in managed isolation facilities and two new historical cases aboard the ship the Playa Zahara.

Since 1 January 2021, there have been 105 historical cases, out of a total of 689 cases

Nineteen previously reported cases have now recovered. The number of active cases in New Zealand is 58.

The seven-day rolling average of new cases detected at the border is seven.

One previously reported positive case has now been reviewed and classified as ‘not a case’ and a second previously reported positive case is now reclassified as under investigation. Both cases have been removed from our total tally of cases.

Our total number of confirmed cases is 2,506.

Taranaki Wastewater

The Ministry is pleased at the response today to the call for testing in New Plymouth as reported by the local DHB.

The Ministry continues to strongly encourage anyone in Taranaki with symptoms, or recent arrivals from Australia with or without symptoms who’ve recently visited Taranaki to be tested.

This follows two positive wastewater results detected in Taranaki earlier this week (20 and 22 July) which could be due to recently recovered cases continuing to shed the virus, or could signal undetected cases in the community.

In order to determine whether there are any undetected cases the Ministry is recommending anyone in Taranaki, or who has visited recently, and who has symptoms to get tested.

Additional testing capacity has been stood up in New Plymouth to support potential demand.

The Ministry is recommending that any recent arrivals from Australia, who have symptoms, to also get tested, and anyone who has recently been in Australia who is now in Taranaki to get tested even if they don’t have symptoms.

People who have recently been in Australia should continue to check the State websites for locations of interest as new locations of interest continue to be identified.

Anyone with symptoms consistent with COVID-19 should call Healthline (0800 358 5453) for advice on getting a test.

For Taranaki testing locations please visit the Taranaki DHB website.

For a list of all testing locations nationwide visit the Healthpoint website.

Testing numbers for Taranaki will be provided tomorrow. Results are also expected tomorrow from further and wider wastewater sampling carried out over the weekend in Taranaki. ESR undertakes regular wastewater testing across the country, as an additional surveillance tool in the fight against COVID-19.

While the mariners aboard the Playa Zahara and Viking Bay vessels recently docked at Port Taranaki, in New Plymouth, the dates of their brief visits, and the activity of the crew, do not appear to be a factor in these wastewater detections.

Additional testing for a small number of port workers and nurses, who have been in possible contact with the mariners, have all been negative to date.

New border cases in New Zealand

* Day 12 cases are routinely investigated as a check against possible transmission within the facility

** Cases 2 and 3 are historical and onboard the ship Playa Zahara.

Contact tracing

Contact tracing have identified 45 contacts associated with cases in Australia and who are currently in New Zealand. All 45 have been tested and returned negative results.

Mattina

Health and border authorities continue to manage the situation around the Mattina.

The health and welfare of the crew are being overseen by Southern DHB’s Medical Officers of Health, who are working closely with maritime, port and other government agencies.

There are 15 positive COVID-19 cases. Five crew, who have tested negative, have been transferred to managed isolation facilities onshore, the remainder remain isolated on board the vessel at this time, where they will maintain the minimum functions on the vessel.

They will not have direct contact with any port staff while maintaining these functions.

These plans have been put in place to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the negative crew members at the same time as the health and wellbeing of members of the community. In both instances, the public health risk to the community has been deemed low.

Playa Zahara

The crew of the Playa Zahara are now all recovered and are back on board the vessel in quarantine in Lyttelton. One other crew member, also recovered, has now left the country to return home.

Viking Bay

Ten crew members are now in quarantine onboard the Viking Bay fishing vessel at Queens Wharf in Wellington following crew members from managed isolation being transferred back on board the vessel once it was determined safe for them to do so. The crew members are continuing to be tested during their quarantine.

Ten crew members remain in isolation in a Wellington managed isolation facility onshore.

Testing

The total number of COVID-19 tests processed by laboratories to date is 2,438,807.

On Saturday, 5,432 tests were processed across New Zealand.

The seven-day rolling average is 5,851.

For all testing locations nationwide visit the Healthpoint website.

NZ COVID Tracer

NZ COVID Tracer now has 2,905,178 registered users.

Poster scans have reached 311,795,801 and users have created 12,190,453 manual diary entries.

There have been 638,518 scans in the last 24 hours to midday yesterday.

While we are currently in Alert Level 1, remember that doesn’t mean Alert Level none.

Please continue to do everything possible to keep New Zealand free from COVID-19, such as keeping track of where you have been – scan QR codes wherever you go and turn on Bluetooth tracing in the app dashboard.

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