Community Case

Lockdown on Tokelau as first community case of Covid is confirmed

A spokesperson for the government has confirmed to RNZ Pacific the small nation of three atolls announced the first-ever case on Sunday.

Up until now Tokelau, which is a dependency of New Zealand, was the last remaining country along with Turkmenistan to not have experienced community cases.

RNZ Pacific reports the case is located on Nukunonu, the largest atoll in Tokelau.

Tokelau has now been plunged into lockdown.

The index case doesn't know how they contracted the virus.

Work is underway to establish how the virus entered the community.

Niue has first Covid cases in the community

Up until now the country has not experienced a case of the virus in the community, while there have been just 30 cases recorded at the border.

The acting Premier and Minister of Health, Sauni Tongatule, says contact tracing began immediately after the cases were detected and all affected people are being contacted by Niue's health officials.

Earlier this week Niue was able to announce that the number of workers in its Covid-19 teams had increased after assistance from a New Zealand medical team.

 

Covid-19 community case reported in the South Island with positive test in Blenheim

The case flew from Rotorua and arrived in Blenheim on Thursday. They were tested upon arrival after developing a sore throat.

"The initial test, including a follow-up swab, returned a weak positive result."

The ministry said the case is now isolating awaiting the results of further testing.

The case is considered low risk, due to their likely late stage of infection.

The ministry said initial case interviews suggested the case was linked to the Te Awamutu cluster.

Australia’s new community case in Queensland after travelling from Victoria

D'Ath said the 44-year-old woman was staying with her husband and other family members in Caloundra and was tested yesterday, with a positive result confirmed this afternoon.

The woman left Victoria on 1 June, travelled through New South Wales and crossed the Queensland border on 5 June. She was being interviewed and Queensland Health would release a list of exposure sites, D'Ath said.

Victoria's lockdown had already started when she left.

Testing clinics on the Sunshine Coast will be open for extended hours and D'Ath has urged people to get tested.

New positive community case of Covid 19, Ministry of Health confirms

During this afternoon's 1pm press conference, Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins confirmed the new community case was a student at Papatoetoe High School.

The school now remains closed until further notice.

The person is considered a casual-plus contact who had been advised to self-isolate and get tested, the ministry said in a statement earlier today.

Hipkins said the student had not returned to school on Monday. The case was picked up by testing of all students and staff before they were able to return to school.