Two new cases of Covid-19 have been identified in managed isolation and quarantine facilities, the Ministry of Health says.
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In a written statement today the ministry said there were no new community cases. It also reported a seven-day rolling average of cases at the border, which today was three.
It said four wastewater testing samples from around Papatoetoe have returned negative results, following a weak positive result detected on Friday.
The weak positive result was from routine wastewater sampling at the site linked to Papatoetoe, and was assessed as not posing a risk to the community, the ministry said.
"We know that people who have recently had Covid-19 may continue to shed fragments of the virus for some weeks after they have recovered, without being infectious to others," the ministry said.
"Wastewater sampling can detect these fragments, which are not infectious and their presence is not considered a risk to the community.
"This is supported by results from geospatial mapping linking the homes/residential addresses of the individuals to the catchment area where the sample was taken. The new negative wastewater testing results also provide good evidence to support this. The recovered cases are no longer infectious and there is no evidence that the wastewater is infectious."
Laboratories processed 2822 tests yesterday, bringing the seven-day rolling average to 5634 tests.
Today's two new border cases - from India via UAE and from USA - arrived on 14 and 15 March and were detected in routine day 0 testing. They bring New Zealand's total active cases to 95 and total confirmed cases to 2076.
On Monday, seven cases were reported in managed isolation with no new cases in the community.
Overseas, the World Health Organisation is urging countries not to pause Covid-19 vaccinations after several major EU states halted rollouts of the Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccine. The WHO said there was no evidence of a link between the vaccine and incidents of blood clotting. The Australian government remains committed to rolling out the vaccine.
