The Rio De Le Plata has left New Zealand with its asymptomatic crew members aboard.
It was revealed earlier this week that 11 crew members onboard the Rio De La Plata ship, docked off the coast of Tauranga, had contracted the Delta variant of Covid-19 while in Australia.
Tauranga port workers came into contact with the Covid-infected crew while unloading cargo off the vessel when it was berthed in the port from Wednesday through to Saturday last week.
The Ministry of Health said test results for some workers at the Port of Tauranga continue to come in.
A total of 72 port workers were identified as contacts after boarding the ship while it was in Tauranga. Of these 72, 70 were identified as requiring a day three test after their potential exposure.
The ministry said 64 of these have returned a negative test and six are pending.
In addition two pilots, who have also both tested negative, remain in isolation for 14 days since their possible exposure.
The majority of workers have been cleared for work today by local public health staff.
"The local public health unit will be working closely with Port of Tauranga and companies employing port workers to improving access to those not currently vaccinated to get a vaccination," a ministry spokeswoman said.
"The local public health service will have staff on-site to provide vaccinations to port staff from Monday for the next two weeks."
The spokeswoman said the ministry is reviewing the incident response over the next few days and will be providing an initial update to the minister early next week on lessons and improvements.
This is "standard practice".
In addition, a fuller review process will also incorporate the three other recent incidents involving the vessels the Playa Zahara, the Viking Bay and the Mattina with infected crew.
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