Air NZ case likely got ill overseas

An Air NZ staff member who tested positive for Covid-19 likely caught the virus overseas, the Ministry of Health says.

‘‘Genome sequencing shows the lineage of this infection is not associated with any New Zealand cases that have been sequenced, indicating international exposure is most likely,’’ the ministry said yesterday.

The worker returned a positive test for the virus while in China, then again in New Zealand after arriving back on Wednesday.

‘‘Because this case was first reported in China, it is officially a case in China ... so while we are reporting on it, it does not enter into our official count,’’ the ministry said. ‘‘The ministry continues to investigate how this ... case was contracted.’’

An Air NZ spokeswoman said she could not confirm whether the worker picked up the virus in China or elsewhere. The date the virus was contracted was still being investigated.

She also would not confirm how often the worker was tested for Covid-19 but said they tested negative in New Zealand on November 18.

It is not clear if they went to any other countries in between that negative test and the positive test in China four days later.

The worker and 12 close contacts are now in the Auckland quarantine facility, Jet Park. ‘‘Further test samples from close contacts of the staff member have been processed rapidly and nine results have been returned, all of which are negative,’’ the ministry said.

The ministry also announced yesterday there was one new case in managed isolation. They arrived on November 14 from the United Kingdom, via the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia, and tested positive around day 12 of their stay.