A Wanaka man in his 20s and a Queenstown man in his 40s are among those announced in the past 48 hours as having been diagnosed with COVID-19 in the Southern district, bringing the total confirmed cases in the district to eight.

The Wanaka man returned to New Zealand after travelling overseas, including to Europe. He has been in self-isolation since his arrival into Queenstown on March 18. He has mild symptoms and is at home. Contact tracing has begun, the Southern District Health Board’s (SDHB) daily COVID-19 update today (Sunday March 22) said.

Queenstown Lakes District Mayor Jim Boult said the news would be “a jolt” for the Upper Clutha community, “...although with the pace of spread currently increasing it was inevitable our district would see new cases,” he said.

The Queenstown man returned to New Zealand after travelling overseas, including to Europe and the U.S. He visited a supermarket briefly on his way home, but has been in self-isolation at home since then.

A Dunedin woman has mild symptoms and is a probable case. She is the wife of a man whose diagnosis was confirmed earlier in the week, and the mother of a Logan Park High School student. She has been in self-isolation since her husband was confirmed as having the virus.

A number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 attended the World Hereford Conference (March 9-13 in Queenstown). None of these cases are residents of, or currently located in the Southern region. Conference attendees have been notified and asked to self-isolate for 14 days from last exposure.

Some of the conference delegates also attended the Wanaka A&P Show (March 13-14), but the SDHB has not identified the show as a location to be monitored, beyond noting that the conference events “could involve other contacts”, which are considered to be casual contacts and therefore low risk.

In addition to conference attendees, there were a number of people who helped organise the conference who cannot be contacted, as the conference organiser has gone into insolvency.

Those who worked at the conference are considered to be casual contacts and have not been asked to self-isolate but should monitor their health and immediately self-isolate and call Healthline on 0800 358 5453 if they develop symptoms such as a cough, fever, sore throat or difficulty breathing, the SDHB said.

The council has activated the Wanaka Incident Control Centre at its Ardmore Street office.

The QLDC has activated the Wānaka Incident Control Centre from the Ardmore Street office, and staff are working closely with the district-wide council emergency management team. The teams are focused on coordinating local welfare support and communicating how people can access services, accommodation and community networks, the mayor said.

The following locations relate to possible casual contacts by members of the public that can’t be identified through contact tracing. Casual contacts are people who may have come into contact with the individual, but for less than 15 minutes and/or at a distance of more than two metres.

The risk in these instances is considered to be low. Those who believe they may have come into contact with the case are advised to monitor their health and call Healthline on 0800 358 5453 if they develop symptoms such as a cough, fever, sore throat or difficulty breathing.

PHOTO:Supplied