Contact of Sydney case in MIQ

CHRISTCHURCH: A contact of one of the Sydney Covid19 cases, who travelled to New Zealand, is in a managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) facility in Christchurch at present.

A Ministry of Health spokeswoman said yesterday afternoon no new locally acquired cases had been identified in New South Wales since the two cases were identified earlier this week.

There was no further information on the epidemiological link between the community cases and the border case to whom they were genomically linked, she said.

One person has been identified by NSW health authorities as a contact of a case and transferred to a managed isolation facility in Christchurch.

This person attended a ‘‘location of interest at the same time as one of the two positive cases recently identified in Sydney’’.

‘‘The contact is being tested for Covid19 and the results will be available by tomorrow,’’ the spokeswoman said.

‘‘The person is not symptomatic and local public health staff say they have cooperated fully with all requests.’’

The Ministry of Health has issued a Section 70 notice, meaning any person who attended the locations of interest in Sydney on the specified dates and times are required to isolate or quarantine at home, or the accommodation they are staying in, contact authorities and undergo testing as required.

As a precautionary measure, quarantinefree travel from NSW to New Zealand paused from 11.59pm on Thursday continues.

‘‘This travel pause prevents anyone from travelling to New Zealand from NSW,’’ the spokeswoman said.

‘‘It also includes anyone who has been in NSW and who plans to depart for New Zealand from another airport e.g. Brisbane or Melbourne.

‘‘The Ministry of Health will continue to closely monitor the situation in NSW this weekend. Another update on the NSW travel pause will be provided tomorrow.’’

So far, 5214 people who have arrived in New Zealand from NSW since Friday last week have been contacted by health authorities and provided with advice.

New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian called the pause an ‘‘overreaction’’, but directorgeneral of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield defended the decision, saying it was ‘‘the right thing to do’’.

Covid19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins announced on Thursday New Zealand had put a pause on all flights out of New South Wales as the state reported two community cases of coronavirus, just weeks after both nations opened quarantinefree travel across the ditch.

‘‘That, to me, is an overreaction,’’ Ms Berejiklian said in an interview yesterday morning.

‘‘If that’s what the department says they must do, that’s what she [Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern] does. But I certainly think the response should also be proportionate to the risk.’’

Ms Berejiklian said NSW health officials were working hard to ‘‘stop a superspreading event’’ with a slate of new restrictions in Greater Sydney over the next three days to minimise the chances of further cases spreading.

Addressing criticism of the decision, Dr Bloomfield told Newstalk ZB he and other health officials had put much thought into pausing the bubble before it was announced publicly.

The pause for 48 hours was put in place so authorities could watch to see what further results come out of Sydney.

Mr Hipkins said the risk was low, even though about 6000 people had flown into New Zealand from NSW since the Sydney cases emerged.

While the eastern state has not gone into lockdown, restrictions have been put in place, including compulsory masks in indoor venues and gatherings limited to 20 people.

Genome sequencing has linked the index case, a man in his 50s, to a traveller who arrived from the US, and who was moved to a quarantine facility on April 28.

One of the man’s household contacts, a woman in her 50s, returned a positive test yesterday. — The New Zealand Herald

❛ That, to me, is an overreaction NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian