There are 25 new cases of COVID-19 to report in New Zealand today (Wednesday October 21): 23 of these imported cases at the border, and two cases are linked to the port worker reported on Sunday.

“Two are close contacts associated with our community case, and all appropriate precautions around this have been put in place,” director-general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said.

“The others are part of a well-established managed isolation and border management system that was set up to do exactly what it is doing – that’s finding and isolating imported cases at the border.”

The first community case was previously considered a casual contact of the port worker reported on Sunday, and the second case (which came into the Ministry of Health’s database after 9am so will be reflected in tomorrow’s official numbers) is the previously reported workplace close contact of the port worker. 

Detailed interviews and contact tracing are underway for these people, and officials are taking “a very precautionary approach” to managing these cases, Ashley said.

“Infection via the Sofrana Surville [freight ship] continues to be the most likely hypothesis but we are also revisiting this theory in light of these new cases,” he said. The Sofrana Surville arrived in Brisbane yesterday and Australian authorities will undertake testing and will communicate the results from the 19 crew members when they are available.

There are also 18 imported cases in managed isolation from Moscow via Singapore; three cases from London via Singapore; and two imported cases from Jordan via Dubai and Kuala Lumpur and from Malaysia.

Two previously reported cases are now considered to have recovered, bringing New Zealand’s total number of active cases to 56. The total number of confirmed cases is now 1,556.

Ashley said it remains critically important that anyone who develops symptoms consistent with COVID-19 immediately seeks advice from their health care provider or Healthline.

“Getting a test for COVID-19 quickly allows us to rapidly identify and isolate any cases of the virus and limits its ability to spread. Please remain vigilant and get a test if you have any symptoms.”

IMAGE: Supplied