No new community Covid cases

There were no new cases of Covid-19 to report in the community in New Zealand yesterday, the Ministry of Health said.

There were six positive cases picked up among recent arrivals at the border, including three of the confirmed cases aboard the Mattina container ship, which was quarantined in Bluff.

The remaining six confirmed cases aboard the Mattina were expected to be added to the confirmed cases tally in today’s update, the ministry said.

Altogether nine crew members on board the Mattina, which arrived in Bluff on Sunday night, have tested positive for Covid-19. The ship is in quarantine in a secure area of the port.

Altogether, the Mattina has 21 crew, and eight of the nine who tested positive have Covid symptoms, but were well enough to stay on board, the ministry said.

Two of the other three cases among recent arrivals were people who arrived on direct flights from Fiji – one on Saturday and the other, who was a contact of a case, on July 12. The third was someone who arrived on a direct flight from South Korea on Sunday.

A previously reported case from last Friday was now considered historical. It had been removed from the confirmed cases tally.

None of 16 previously reported cases from shipping boat Playa Zahara, now in quarantine in Lyttelton, had been included in the case tally, for now. They remained under investigation to determine whether they were current or historical cases.