Tests to check for COVID-19 community transmission underway

COVID-19 testing will take place today and tomorrow to check for community transmission.
COVID-19 testing will take place today and tomorrow to check for community transmission. Photo credit: File Image

Targeted COVID-19 testing will take place in South Auckland, Christchurch and Queenstown today and tomorrow, to check there is no community transmission.

The campaign is in response to the movements of a visitor who tested positive in South Korea after leaving New Zealand.

It is not known when the man caught the coronavirus, but the Ministry of Health has traced his movements in New Zealand.

He visited many popular locations in Queenstown in early July.

Spot testing will take place in the communities the man visited during June and July.

Four new COVID-19 testing stations will open in Auckland today.

They will be in Northcote, Henderson, Grafton and Wiri, and replace the previous community-based centres set up early in the pandemic response.

Testing will be offered to all people who present with cold or flu-like symptoms, but those with other health problems are advised to visit their usual doctor.

In the South Island, health officials in Queenstown are encouraging people who have had symptoms recently to phone their GP to set up a test.

RNZ