Nineteen new Covid cases at the border, none in the community

There are no new community Covid-19 cases in New Zealand today, the Ministry of Health has confirmed.

However, 19 Covid-19 cases have been detected in managed isolation. All 19 are mariners in isolation. 

Of the group, 11 are crew members of the Playa Zahara fishing vessel that are currently in a Christchurch MIQ facility. The cases were first detected on July 13 and were previously under investigation. They are now deemed current cases.

Another five cases announced today are also crew members of the Playa Zahara, but are isolated on the vessel in Lyttelton Port, where it is currently docked. They have been added to the tally after further investigation.

The remaining three cases announced today are mariners on the Mattina container ship. They tested positive on July 18 and are isolating on the vessel at Bluff’s South Port.

It brings the total number of cases on the Mattina to 15.

Three other crew members, including the ship’s captain, have tested negative for Covid-19. The captain of the ship was safely transported last night to a secure DHB-provided facility to isolate. The two other crew members are being transported to a Christchurch-based quarantine facility today.

The Ministry of Health also reported one historical Covid-19 case today. Since January 1, there have been 101 historical cases, out of a total of 682 cases.

Two previously reported cases have now recovered. This brings the number of active cases in New Zealand to 80, and the total number of confirmed cases in the country since the start of the pandemic to 2499.

Yesterday, 6441 Covid-19 tests were processed in the country. The total number of tests processed by laboratories to date is 2,426,356.

The seven-day rolling average of tests is 5734.

The NZ COVID Tracer app now has 2,903,866 registered users. Posters have been scanned 310,566,817 times and users have created 12,135,978 manual diary entries.

In the 24 hours leading up to midday yesterday, posters were scanned 623,783 times.