Thread by @covid19nz

COVID-19 Update

There are no new COVID-19 cases at the border or in the community today.

All but two Pullman Hotel staff have been tested.
So far all results from close and casual contacts of the three recent positive cases have come back negative.

Just a reminder about kindness and respect. It is never someone’s fault if they contract COVID-19. It is a tricky virus and it could be any one of us who tests positive.

People should be applauded for following health advice and staying home if asked to – they are keeping others safe. Be kind – it has and will continue to serve us well as a country.

Thank you to the people contacted as part of this recent group of cases who have isolated and been tested. They have done exactly what we have asked them to.

Thank you everyone involved in getting tested, especially our Health workers who have worked under huge pressure and extended hours to make sure everyone who needed to get a test got one.
And thank you to the returnees who had to isolate for a little bit longer.

Comments that put the tireless work of our border staff down to luck are not helpful. There are thousands of people working on the frontline to keep our country safe.

Thank you to all the staff in our MIQ facilities and at our border, whether they are Health workers, security staff, caterers, cleaners, couriers and NZDF personnel. It is not by luck that they are doing such a good job.

Their efforts are the reason why New Zealand is able to continue to enjoy long weekends without restrictions.

Our total number of confirmed cases has gone down by one. We have 69 active cases and total number is 1,947.

One previously reported case has recovered.
One case reported yesterday has been reclassified as under investigation and it is suspected to be a historical case.

An update on the two people who tested positive in the community in Auckland and were transferred to the Auckland Quarantine facility.

They are continuing to recover and will be retested before they are released. All close contacts to date have returned negative tests.

Of the 349 people who departed the Pullman Hotel between 9 and 24 January, 340 have returned negative test results, and we await five results.

The remaining four people are the two positive cases already reported and two children exempt from testing.

It is encouraging to see these negative test results. The extensive follow up by the Ministry of Health and our public health units on the ground has helped reassure us that there’s no evidence of any community transmission.

The value of using QR codes and having Bluetooth turned on is demonstrated by what we’ve seen in these cases. It is great to see the 7-day rolling average of QR code scans up over 1 million last week.

There are four community testing centres open today in Auckland: Northcote, Balmoral, Hendersen and Otara in addition to urgent care clinics and general practices that are open today.

The pop-up testing centre in Albany has been open over the long weekend. It is now closed and the regional public health team reported that demand was dropping. These centres will be stood up again if required.

Yesterday we reported a case that is now under investigation. To date, we’ve reported cases that we consider historical as part of our overall numbers.
Most cases we find late in someone’s time in MIQ (and some that we find early) we find are historical.

We are looking at reporting these separately, as these are not cases that we need to report to the WHO and some would have reported in the countries they have travelled from.

NZ COVID Tracer now has 2,543,662 registered users.
Poster scans have reached 166,893,699. Almost 601,000 poster scans have been recorded since midday yesterday.
Users have created 6,859,615 manual diary entries.