Coronavirus infection link to Cook Islands branded ‘tenuous’

A Cook Islands health official has cast doubt on the possibility a Nelson woman caught coronavirus while in Rarotonga.

On Thursday the Nelson Marlborough DHB announced a new case of Covid-19 in Nelson, from a New World Stoke supermarket worker, who had returned home from the Cook Islands on March 26.

Currently the case is suspected to be travel-related, although NMH Clinical Director of Public Health Dr Stephen Bridgman said this definition could include contact with an infected passenger on a flight, in transit, or by contact with infected people in another country.

In a report from Cook Islands News, Cook Islands Secretary of Health Dr Josephine Aumea Herman said based on current information it was unlikely the case originated in Rarotonga.

Herman said a young woman had arrived in Auckland on March 26, then travelled on to Nelson.

‘‘She had departed Rarotonga five weeks prior to being diagnosed, which is well outside the recognised 14-day incubation period for Covid-19.’’

She said since then Te Marae Ora had conducted more than 1300 tests in Rarotonga (amounting to more than 10 per cent of the population), all of which had tested negative for Covid-19.

‘‘I will be contacting public health officials in New Zealand to investigate any evidence for a link to the Cook Islands, although based on current information I consider the link tenuous,’’ Herman said.

Cook Islands News reported the woman had left Rarotonga on March 25.

Bridgman said that the risk to other New World staff members and to the public was considered to be low, given the use of a face mask in the workplace, the absence of a cough in the case and the limited movements of the case under Alert Level 4 restrictions.

However, he said people who had visited New World Stoke between 18 and 26 April should be especially vigilant to any symptoms: a cough, fever, runny nose, temporary loss of smell or shortness of breath.

A Foodstuffs spokesperson confirmed the woman had worked at the Stoke New World store on three occasions between April 18 and April 26 since returning home, in a non-customer facing role outside of regular working hours.

The spokesperson said the owners of New World Stoke were working closely with the Nelson Marlborough Health and were taking their guidance on what additional steps, if any, needed to be taken.

‘‘Please be assured that our staff and customers health and safety remain our top priority and we continue to work with all appropriate authorities to ensure the highest standards of health and safety are maintained.’’

Yesterday there were no new cases announced in the top of the south but a Marlborough coronavirus case previously considered ‘probable’ was reclassified as confirmed. It means four active cases remain in the Nelson Marlborough District Health Board area, with 45 recovered.