New Zealand reports two new cases of Covid-19 community transmission
New Zealand has reported two new regionally transmitted cases of Covid-19 on Wednesday, simply hours earlier than authorities have been because of announce whether or not a lockdown in the country’s biggest city of Auckland can be prolonged.
The pair have been siblings who attend south Auckland’s Papatoetoe highschool and knew the coed on the centre of the town’s newest community cluster.
One scholar was a classmate of the contaminated lady, who examined optimistic on Saturday, and the opposite is a sibling of the most recent case, who additionally attends the highschool, authorities mentioned. Both are actually in managed isolation.
On Sunday the prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, positioned the entire of Auckland right into a three-day lockdown after three individuals – a mom, father and daughter – examined optimistic for the illness, with no indication of the place they contracted the virus. The relaxation of the nation has been positioned into stage 2 restrictions.
The mom of the household on the centre of the outbreak does laundry for airways at a facility close to the airport, however there was no affirmation that this was the place the household contracted Covid.
The Auckland lockdown was because of finish at midnight on Wednesday, with Ardern anticipated to announce her determination at 1630 native time. She can be anticipated to disclose whether or not the rest of the nation steps down a stage on the nation’s Covid response scale.
News of the new cases comes after two days of zero community unfold, regardless of 20,000 individuals being examined in Auckland.
There are actually a complete of 31 shut contacts and 1,523 informal plus contacts of the unique virus at Papatoetoe highschool. Of these, 29 shut contacts have returned destructive outcomes, one optimistic end result, and one is excellent.
The newest information precipitated despair amongst Aucklanders. Businesses mentioned they have been notably exhausting hit as they have been nonetheless recovering from the two lockdowns of 2020.
However, testing of Auckland’s wastewater on 15 February discovered “no evidence of any community cases of Covid-19 in wastewater sampled”, aside from in sewage strains related to quarantine services, the place optimistic cases are held.
The North Island metropolis of Rotorua and the South Island metropolis of Christchurch additionally returned destructive outcomes.
New Zealand’s chief science advisor, Dame Juliet Ann Gerrard, praised the most recent cases for present process assessments promptly.
“Big shout out to cases A and B for getting a test promptly, which meant we found this chain of transmission,” she said on Twitter.
Epidemiologists mentioned the invention of extra cases within the community ought to imply an extension to Auckland’s lockdown and stage 2 country-wide, notably because the supply of the unique an infection remained unidentified.
“Given this, and the persisting uncertainty, it’s possibly best to keep the current alert level settings for a few more days,” mentioned Otago college epidemiologist Nick Wilson, to local media.
The recent outbreak prompted neighbouring Australia to droop an association that allowed New Zealanders to enter Australia with out serving a 14-day lodge quarantine interval.
With Reuters
