COVID-19: No new cases in the community, one in managed isolation

COVID-19: No new cases in the community, one in managed isolation
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There are no new COVID-19 cases in the community and one in managed isolation, the Ministry of Health said on Thursday.

The new case in managed isolation arrived in New Zealand from India via Qatar on May 17. 

The seven-day rolling average of new cases detected at the border is two.

Two previously reported cases have now recovered. The total number of active cases in New Zealand today is 24.

The total number of confirmed cases is 2303.

Since January 1, 2021, there have been 61 historical cases, out of a total of 486 cases.

A previously reported case has now been reclassified as "historical” and has been added to the historical case tally. 

Wastewater

The Ministry of Health also revealed there have recently been weak positive results from wastewater testing in Wellington, Christchurch, Rotorua and Queenstown. The risk to the New Zealand community is deemed to be low. 

Queenstown and Wellington returned negative results in subsequent testing and further testing is underway in Christchurch and Rotorua. 

The ministry said the weak positive results are likely from recent positive cases in managed isolation or due to recovered cases shedding the virus. There is no risk of infection from COVID-19 in wastewater.

"Wastewater testing serves as an early warning system in the fight against COVID-19, as it does in many other countries," Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said in a press release. 

"When wastewater testing returns weak positives, it's essential that anyone in these areas with symptoms consistent with COVID-19 stay at home and promptly call Healthline (0800 358 5453) about getting a test.

"Any cases of COVID-19 need to be detected quickly in order to stop the virus spreading in our communities. This is especially important as we head into winter, as people may have the usual winter coughs and colds." 

He said people should also continue to use the NZ COVID Tracer app with Bluetooth turned on to keep a record of their movements so they can be recalled quickly if needed by contact tracers.

Testing

The total number of tests processed by laboratories to date is 2,095,421.

Laboratories processed 4794 tests yesterday. The seven-day rolling average is 3657.

NZ COVID Tracer

NZ COVID Tracer now has 2,826,944 registered users.

Poster scans have reached 271,329,239 and users have created 10,175,911 manual diary entries.

There have been 588,670 scans in the 24 hours to midday Wednesday.