New Zealand reports three new COVID-19 local cases, first since January

(Reuters) – New Zealand on Sunday reported three new domestically acquired COVID-19 instances, the nation’s first since late January, when a returned traveller examined optimistic after leaving quarantine.

New Zealand’s minister for COVID-19 response, Chris Hipkins, stated the three instances have been a pair and their daughter in Auckland, and that genomic testing was being carried out to see if the household’s an infection was linked to any extremely infectious variants.

The brand new instances, the primary since Jan. 24, pressured Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to return to the capital Wellington, skipping a homosexual satisfaction occasion in Auckland that she was attributable to attend on Sunday afternoon.

“Our system has swung into motion,” Hipkins instructed a unexpectedly referred to as media convention. “We’re gathering the entire information as rapidly as we will. And the system that’s served us so effectively prior to now is basically gearing up to take action once more.”

New Zealand – which had gone greater than two months with out an infection earlier than the January case – is to start out inoculating its 5 million individuals towards the brand new coronavirus on Feb. 20, after receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine sooner than anticipated.

The nation stays on alert degree 1 for COVID-19, its lowest degree, with no restrictions.

“No additional consideration of change to alert ranges has been taken at this level. We’ll accumulate extra info earlier than we might make any such choice,” Hipkins stated.

Well being authorities are nonetheless working to learn how the household contracted the virus and “whether or not COVID-19 could possibly be on the market locally … or whether or not that is the beginning of what could possibly be a sequence of transmission,” he stated.

As a precaution, the highschool of the woman within the household might be closed on Monday and Tuesday, with COVID-19 testing services to be arrange there, officers stated.

Airways have additionally been contacted, as the lady within the contaminated household works for an airline catering firm, LSG Sky Cooks, the place she principally works within the laundry services, they stated.