Genome sequencing indicates Air NZ crew member likely caught Covid-19 overseas

November 26, 2020
The crew member is isolating in Shanghai after arriving yesterday, as are the rest of their colleagues.

There is one new Covid-19 case recorded today in managed isolation, the Ministry of Health has confirmed.

The case count doesn't include an Air New Zealand crew member who tested positive for the virus.

This is because just-completed genome sequencing shows it was likely from an international source, and not associated with any case in New Zealand, the ministry said. 

"Because this case was first reported in China, it is officially a case in China, not New Zealand.

"So while we are reporting on it, it does not enter into our official count of Covid-19 cases.

"The ministry continues to investigate how this most recent confirmed Covid-19 case was contracted. Although the source of the infection is still unknown, we are continuing to take precautionary actions within New Zealand," health officials said.

The Ministry of Health confirmed yesterday the Air New Zealand crew member who tested positive in China had been re-tested in New Zealand and was confirmed as a positive case. 

That crew member, along with their close and casual contacts from the flight, arrived in New Zealand yesterday morning and were isolated. 

To date, 12 close contacts of the crew member have been identified. 

Auckland Regional Public Health Service said it is continuing to identify any locations of interest the case may have visited, and any associated close contacts.

As of yesterday, there were 10 close contacts of the crew member in self isolation or managed isolation, and another potential close contact was being investigated.

The ministry said it sent out six push notifications through the NZ COVID Tracer app for locations of interest visited by the Air New Zealand worker.

As at 10am today, 96 app users have received a notification related to the worker.

Locations of interest include an Auckland pet store and a Resene paint shop.

The person is returning home to New Zealand today via a cargo-only flight to avoid contact with others.

Meanwhile, today's imported case in managed isolation arrived on November 14 from the UK via the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia. The person tested positive at routine testing around day 12 of their stay in managed isolation and was transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility.

As of today, there are 60 active cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand.

The total number of confirmed cases in the country since the start of the pandemic is 1684.

Yesterday, laboratories completed 9083 Covid-19 tests, bringing the total number of tests completed to date to 1,252,601.

The NZ COVID Tracer app has 2,382,800 registered users. Poster scans have reached 126,354,209, and users have created 5,143,314 manual diary entries.

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