‘Old Covid19 case’ on ship found to pose no risk

A CREW member on a ship anchored off Dunedin has been found to have previously had Covid19, but authorities say there is nothing to worry about.

The Rio Madeira container ship arrived in Dunedin on Tuesday but remained off the coast near Karitane until yesterday afternoon as testing was carried out.

Southern District Health Board medical officer of health Susan Jack confirmed yesterday a man on board was a ‘‘documented old Covid19 case’’ and had been diagnosed in India but had since fully recovered.

He had no symptoms and was not infectious, and all other crew tested negative.

‘‘He poses no risk to other crew members, port workers or the general public.’’

The ship berthed at Port Chalmers about 3pm yesterday and is scheduled to depart on Sunday.

In his media briefing yesterday, directorgeneral of health

Dr Ashley Bloomfield referred to the case and said the person had returned a weak positive result, but because it had been previously reported in India, it would not count on New Zealand's tally.

Testing took place ‘‘out of an abundance of caution’’, a SDHB spokeswoman said.