There are three new cases of Covid-19 in managed isolation in New Zealand, the Ministry of Health reported in an update this afternoon.
New Cases
The first case is the child of a previously reported case. They arrived in New Zealand on July 14 from Pakistan, via Dubai.
The second case is a woman in her 30s who arrived on 28 July from Los Angeles. She has been staying at the Rydges in Auckland and tested positive as part of routine testing around day three of her stay in managed isolation.
The third case is a woman in her 40s who arrived in New Zealand on August 1 from Manila, via Hong Kong.
These three people are all now staying at the Auckland quarantine facility.
The total number of active cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand’s managed isolation and quarantine facilities is now 25.
Testing
The Ministry says it would like to see testing numbers increase, particularly in Auckland and Queenstown.
It says surveillance testing has been ongoing over the weekend in Auckland, Queenstown and Christchurch, which are locations connected to the case in South Korea.
In Auckland, the Ministry says DHBs have reported around 200 people being tested for Covid-19 at new model community testing centres in Northcote, Henderson, Grafton and Wiri. All tested so far have returned negative results.
Testing at Queenstown Medical Centre has been ongoing over the weekend, with people responding to the call to be tested if they have developed symptoms since 1 July. However, numbers tested have been lower than expected, the Ministry says.
Southern DHB will be undertaking further community testing at a pop-up testing centre on Tuesday August 4 from 9am in the Pak n Save carpark. The Ministry says they are especially asking Queenstown locals to come forward, and in particular those who are working in public-facing roles and may have had symptoms during July. People do not need to have experienced symptoms to be tested in the pop-up centre.
The person who has tested positive for Covid-19 on arrival in South Korea was in South Auckland from 20 June to 20 July, Queenstown from 1 to 4 July and in and around Christchurch Airport on 20 and 21 July.
The Ministry says anyone who was in those areas around those dates can contact Healthline or their GP for advice on being tested – the assessment and testing are both free.