Delaying the inevitable
Nine Motueka cases to be revealed as Omicron or not, as five flights flagged as locations
Health teams are racing to prevent an Omicron outbreak flaring in the community after another airport worker was confirmed positive and five Air NZ flights were named locations of interest.
There are now six Omicron community cases after the highly contagious variant infected two Auckland Airport workers, an MIQ staffer and two close contacts.
Another Omicron positive person spent two days moving about in Palmerston North while potentially infectious after being discharged from a managed isolation facility.
All eyes will today also be on genome sequencing results for nine Covid-positive people in Motueka in the South Island and an Air NZ crew member linked to them, who was potentially infectious on five flights.
The sequencing will reveal whether the cases are infected with the Delta or Omicron variants.
University of Canterbury professor Michael Plank said if these cases have Omicron, it will likely trigger an outbreak.
“Obviously that is a significant number of cases and significant level of exposure on five flights, and with no clear link to the border that I’m aware,” Plank said. “That would suggest there is likely to be a lot more cases out there that haven’t been found.
“But that’s a big if at the moment, and we won’t know until the sequencing is complete.”
Hundreds of Omicron cases have been picked up at the border in recent weeks. The wave of cases and recent instances of Omicron slipping into the community has led Plank and other experts to warn it is likely just weeks or even days before a wider outbreak is seen.
That could lead to Auckland having up to 1800 cases a day within weeks of community transmission, they say.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has also urged Kiwis to prepare, saying it’s a matter of when, not if an outbreak occurs.
She said all of New Zealand would move to the red traffic light setting within 24 to 48 hours of Omicron community transmission.
“So far we’ve managed to keep the leaked border cases contained thanks to those people getting tested early and our contact tracing system working well, but sooner or later our luck is going to run out,” Plank said.
The nine Covid-positive Motueka cases reported on Friday were all from the same household.
They have been linked to an Air NZ flight and crew member who also tested positive to the virus.
Air NZ chief medical officer Dr Ben Johnston said the worker was fully vaccinated and found to be positive as part of routine testing.
“Close contacts including any other members of our aircrew are
So far we’ve managed to keep the leaked border cases contained . . . but sooner or later our luck is going to run out. Michael Plank
being advised and will be tested and isolated according to the Ministry of Health requirements.”
He said he is confident staff are following the Covid precautions and protocols “diligently”.
The Ministry of Health said the crew member worked on five flights while potentially infectious and these have been named as locations of interest. Those flights are:
● Flight NZ 5083 from Auckland to Nelson at 5.20pm on January 16
● Flight NZ 5080 from Nelson to Auckland at 4pm on January 19
● Flight NZ 5077 from Auckland to Nelson at 2pm on January 19
● Flight NZ 5049 from Auckland to New Plymouth at 7.50pm on January 19
● Flight NZ 5042 from New Plymouth to Auckland at 1.50pm on January 20
The ministry on Friday also confirmed a second Auckland Airport worker had the Omicron variant.
The worker has potential links to Covid-positive travellers in managed isolation in Rotorua and Auckland.
Thirty-two contacts have been identified with one household member testing positive and 16 others returning a negative result.
Another Omicron case was at the Ara-Tai Cafe in Half Moon Bay in east Auckland where 48 of the 78 contacts identified have returned negative results.
In regard to the Palmerston North Omicron case, 66 of the 76 identified contacts have tested negative to the virus.
Overall, there were 43 new Covid community cases on Friday and 41 cases detected at the border. Eight people are in hospital in Auckland but no one is in intensive care.