New confirmed cases from Pullman
AUCKLAND: Two people who completed their managed isolation in the same facility and at the same time as the Northland case are now being treated as confirmed Covid19 infections, the Ministry of Health says.
‘‘While we still can't categorically rule these out as historical infections, test results so far indicate the two people may have contracted Covid19 towards the end of their stay in managed isolation, after returning two negative tests each during their stay,’’ directorgeneral of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said in a statement last night.
‘‘It's too early to early to make a firm conclusion.
‘‘Genome sequencing results, which are expected tomorrow, and serology results expected the following day, will help develop the picture further.’’
But Dr Bloomfield said that out of an ‘‘abundance of caution’’ the ministry was now responding as if these are confirmed current infections.
The pair recently left the Pullman Hotel managed isolation facility — the same hotel as the Northland returnee who is believed to have caught the South African variant of the virus days before leaving from the person staying in a room across the corridor.
The woman, who is now recovered, tested positive on Saturday and all 353 guests who stayed at the same hotel were ordered to isolate at home and get tested.
The pair who tested positive yesterday were asymptomatic and had been isolating since Sunday.
The pair’s results could be ‘‘weak positives’’, and might not mean they were infectious, microbiologist Associate Prof Siouxsie Wiles said last evening.
Associate Prof Wiles told RNZ weak positive tests for Covid19 needed to be thoroughly investigated, but could be a historic infection that was no longer dangerous.
Weak positive tests often did not show as positive straight away, she said.
‘‘That can indicate either the very start of an infection, or can be somebody who has had an infection in the past and this is just the remnants of the viral RNA that are still around, but that have been dealt with by the immune system.’’
As a precaution, public health officials were detailing the pair’s movements since they left managed isolation to identify close and casual contacts in case contact tracing was required.
The pair’s test results were different from two positive results which directorgeneral of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said were later found to be historic and a false positive.
Nearly 100 people — almost a third of the 353 identified Pullman guests — were yet to be spoken to by contact tracers to ensure they were tested.
Of those contacted, 14 reported having symptoms but 13 returned negative tests.
At yesterday’s 1pm media briefing, Dr Bloomfield said one result was still pending.
It was not known whether that was one of the weak positive tests.
As well, 327 people had been identified as being at one of the 31 locations the Northland woman visited before testing positive — 127 had negative test results.
More than 17,000 tests had been processed since news of the new community case broke on Sunday but as of last night there were no new confirmed cases.
‘‘There are encouraging signs in Northland so far but, a reminder, the situation is evolving and we’re not breathing out just yet,’’ Dr Bloomfield said.
He warned previous experience indicated there might be more positive results because the test was sensitive and could pick up fragments of the virus.
It was still a mystery yesterday as to how the woman caught the virus after having a negative test on day 12 of her stay,
New Zealanders can also expect to see the public campaign about Covid vaccinations begin in the next few weeks.
Covid19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said the Medsafe approval process all four vaccine variants would go through was an important part of the effort to assure New Zealanders they were safe.
The first batch of the Pfizer vaccine is expected to arrive in New Zealand next week.
Ministry of Health surveys indicate 70% of the population would get the vaccination, 20% were hesitant and needed more trusted information while about 10% said they would refuse it.
At least 70% of the public need to get the jab in order for there to be sufficient coverage to reach herd immunity but the Government hopes for about 90%.
Frontline border workers and their close contacts would be vaccinated first.
WELLINGTON: New Zealanders could be waiting even longer for a full transtasman bubble as the Government plays down its previous suggestion one could be in place by the end of March.
It warning came as the oneway travel bubble to Australia was halted in response to the Covid19 community case in Northland.
The National Party said yesterday instead of focusing on a full travel bubble, the Government should instead be working on a statebystate approach.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern expressed her disappointment Australia had temporarily frozen the transtasman bubble.
‘‘We have seen the impacts of that decision on travellers, we need to have some confidence if we are in a transtasman travel arrangement that we won’t see decisions that impact people when it may not be necessary,’’ she said.
Ms Ardern gave a lukewarm response yesterday when asked if a full transtasman bubble could still be achieved by the end of March.
‘‘It does look increasingly difficult at a countrybycountry level.
‘‘We haven’t ruled out the possibility of statebystate, but I know many people will have been frustrated by the impact that has been had on their travel,’’ she said.
Not every state had the same approach to Covid19 as New Zealand, which added a layer of complication, Ms Ardern added.
National Covid19 Response spokesman Chris Bishop said former foreign affairs minister Winston Peters suggested a statebystate approach in the previous government.
‘‘You won’t often hear me say this but I think he was right on the money.
‘‘It’s far easier and more logical to do individual bubbles with individual states in Australia.
‘‘For example, you could start with Western Australia, Queensland, Tasmania,’’ Mr Bishop said.
A statebystate approach should have been the priority for the Government, he said.
‘‘If the Government had really investigated the concept properly, then it could be far further advanced than it actually is,’’ Mr Bishop said.
Tourism Industry Aotearoa chief executive Chris Roberts admitted a March bubble now seemed unlikely.
‘‘The tourism industry is largely resigned now that we will not see the Tasman open by the end of March, although that hasn’t been officially ruled out by our government.
‘‘We think it’s going to take longer than that and that means some very hard times ahead for New Zealand tourism businesses,’’ Mr Roberts said. — RNZ