No community cases; 5 new cases of COVID-19 in managed isolation; Playa Zahara update

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

There are five new cases of COVID-19 to report related to recent returnees in managed isolation facilities, since the Ministry’s last update yesterday.

In addition, 16 cases were reported on the Playa Zahara fishing vessel by the Ministry this morning. These crew members are not being counted in today’s cases tally.

One previously reported case has now recovered, while another previously reported case has now been reclassified as ‘under investigation.’

The number of active cases in New Zealand is now 45.

Since 1 January 2021, there have been 93 historical cases, out of a total of 622 cases.

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

Our total number of confirmed cases is 2,438.

New border cases in New Zealand

Arrival date From Via Positive test day/reason Managed isolation/
quarantine location
9 July Brazil Qatar Day 3 / routine Auckland
12 July Fiji Direct Flight Day 1 / routine Auckland
12 July Fiji Direct Flight Day 1 / routine Auckland
12 July Fiji Direct Flight Day 1 / routine Auckland
13 July United Kingdom Singapore Day 0 / routine Hamilton

Update on the Viking Bay

Four crew members remain onboard the Viking Bay fishing vessel at Queens Wharf in Wellington and are continuing to receive COVID-19 testing as per the normal sequence for close contacts of a case.

These crew members have had their day 0 test and will be having their day 3 test today

The remaining 16 crew members are also undertaking scheduled COVID-19 testing while in a Wellington quarantine facility onshore.

The crew member who was transferred to the onshore quarantine facility on Tuesday night after becoming unwell, has now returned a second negative test

Update on the Playa Zahara

As we reported this morning 16 of the 18 crew of the Spanish-flagged shipping vessel the Playa Zahara have tested positive for COVID-19.

The swabs were taken in Port Taranaki on Tuesday after reports of a flu-like illness on board. The vessel had been at sea for three weeks prior to the reports of illness. No one from New Zealand has been on the ship during that time.

Standard Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) protocol, including the appropriate use of PPE, was used throughout the crew’s testing. After the tests were taken, the ship again departed from Port Taranaki and is now on its way to Lyttelton where the appropriate level of support can be provided.

The time of the Playa Zahara’s arrival tomorrow at Lyttelton is still being finalised.

Whole genome sequencing is underway.

As with the Viking Bay vessel earlier this week, the public health risk from these results is considered to be low.

Our standard procedure is to investigate the sources of all cases and possible transmission whenever there are large number of cases grouped together to ensure we continue to learn from these situations.

Travel from Victoria

Health officials in New Zealand are continuing to monitor and provide advice on the emerging situation in Melbourne, following a growing number of cases and locations of interest.

As indicated yesterday, New Zealanders currently in Victoria who have concerns about Quarantine Free Travel with the Australian state to organise travel home as soon as possible.

Travel from New South Wales

Quarantine-free travel from New South Wales (NSW) remains paused and managed return flights from Sydney are in place. All travellers on these flights will have to go into managed isolation for 14 days when they arrive in New Zealand. Because of this, travellers from NSW are not required to have a pre-departure test before flying.

Travellers who have been in NSW on or after 10.30pm on 26 June are not permitted to travel back to New Zealand from other parts of Australia. Travel histories will be checked at the airport before flying.

Information about priorities for return flights from NSW and access to managed isolation facilities has been published by United Against COVID-19. It can be found here.

Travellers from all other parts of Australia – who haven’t been in NSW since 26 June – must have returned a negative pre-departure test to be allowed to enter New Zealand. All travellers must complete a travel declaration.

Testing update

The total number of COVID-19 tests processed by laboratories to date is 2,380,123.

On Wednesday, 7,331 tests were processed across New Zealand.

The seven-day rolling average is 6,787.