Two New Zealanders who attended the World Hereford Conference in Queenstown earlier this month have contracted COVID-19, and anyone else who took part in the conference is now required to self isolate.

These new cases, along with 11 others, were confirmed in the last 24 hours, taking New Zealand’s total number of confirmed cases to 66.

“Our public health team is following up delegates to that conference, which was held from the 9th until the 13th of March, and four attendees, including two New Zealanders, have tested positive for COVID-19,” Dr Ashley Bloomfield said in a media conference today. 

The two other people who contracted COVID-19 after the event are an Australian and an Uruguayan. 

“Close contacts of those cases are being asked to self isolate, and other attendees at the conference are being considered close contacts in a precautionary way,” Ashley said.

“They have also been contacted and required to self isolate for 14 days… SDHB [Southern District Health Board] is doing the tracking and tracing on this with support from the Ministry of Health.”

Prime minister Jacinda Ardern yesterday announced a COVID-19 alert level system and said we were at level two. Today, Ashley confirmed the alert level had not changed today. 

Two other cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Queenstown this week: the first, a Spanish tourist in his sixties, who in the most recent update was in the Lakes District Hospital; the second a Danish tourist who is in self isolation.

The other cases announced today around the country were in Auckland (five), Northland (one), Canterbury (one), New Plymouth (two), Waikato (two), Tauranga (one), Coromandel (one) and Dunedin (one). 

PHOTO: World Hereford Conference