Covid-19: Three new cases in managed isolation facilities

1:12 pm on 7 October 2020

There are three new cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand today, all in managed isolation.

Medical staff member in rubber glowes hands out Coronavirus nasal swabs test tubes at drive-through testing point in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19 (novel coronavirus)

Photo: 123RF

There are no new cases in the community.

There was no 1pm news conference today.

In a statement, the Ministry of Health says the first two cases arrived from Ethiopia via Dubai on 23 September.

"They have been in managed isolation at the Ibis in Hamilton and tested positive at routine testing around day 12 of their stay," it says.

The Ministry says the third case arrived from Dubai on 29 September. "They have been staying in managed isolation at the Four Points Hotel and have been transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility upon returning a positive test result."

There was no 1pm news conference today.

The total number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand is 1,505 - the number reported to the World Health Organisation.

Nine previously reported cases are now considered to have recovered, which includes the six remaining active cases from the recent community outbreak, the Ministry says.

The total number of active cases is now 37 - all imported cases. There are no active community cases of Covid-19 remaining.

"The Auckland August cluster will officially close when there have been no new cases for two incubation periods from when all cases complete isolation," the Ministry says.

There is one person with Covid-19 in hospital today in Middlemore.

There were 5,334 Covid-19 tests processed yesterday, bringing the total number of tests completed to date to 990,973.

There are now 2,298,978 registered users on the Covid Tracer app.

Yesterday three new cases were reported, all in managed isolation.

See all RNZ coverage of Covid-19

Meanwhile, 30 international students from Timor-Leste, stranded in New Zealand by Covid-19 border closures and lack of commercial flights, are being flown home today. The students, who had been at universities and training institutions, are among passengers on a RNZAF Hercules repatriation flight to Dili.

In international developments:

More than 35.51 million people have been reported to be infected by the coronavirus globally and 1,041,439 have died, according to a Reuters tally.

In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration issued more stringent guidance for vaccine developers hoping for emergency use authorisation, stating it required two months of safety data on applications.

European countries are facing shortages of remdesivir because limited supplies are running out, officials said, with cases surging and the US having bought up most of manufacturer Gilead's output. Remdesivir drug and the steroid dexamethasone are the only drugs authorised in Europe to treat the coronavirus. Both have been given to US President Donald Trump to treat his Covid-19 infection.

- RNZ / Reuters

If you have symptoms of the coronavirus, call the NZ Covid-19 Healthline on 0800 358 5453 (+64 9 358 5453 for international SIMs) or call your GP - don't show up at a medical centre