Covid-19: Investigating how the Delta spread at the Auckland MIQ reveals “globally significant discoveries”

Studies on how Covid-19 could spread within Auckland’s quarantine facility have yielded “globally important” findings for infection control practices.

In the initial release of paper Researchers, published by the Centers for Disease Control and Infection (CDC), investigated the mid-August incident at Jet Park, Auckland’s quarantine facility.

Ministry of Health of New Zealand last year, Delta type Sent between two groups of people When the doors on both sides of the facility corridor are opened at the same time.

In just 3-5 seconds Delta variant The CDC confirmed in a report that it spreads between hotel rooms through open corridor doors.

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In this study, we looked at closed-circuit camera footage, genetic testing, and contact tracing as we revisited how Delta jumped between groups.

We concluded that the facility was the only place where the infection could have occurred.

The study was conducted by a team of scientists led by Dr. Andrew Fox-Lewis, Department of Microbiology, Middlemore Hospital.

The Manukau District Health Commission in Auckland and the county is listed as “author affiliation” in the report, as is the University of Otago and the Institute for Environmental Sciences (ESR), the Crown Science Research Division.

Researchers pointed out that only members of either group were double vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine to avoid catching Delta. Despite sharing the room with the other four who went for weeks, the individual was never positive.

The two groups have different flights from different countries and arrived in New Zealand on different days. They were also moved to Jet Park on different days, researchers said.

One group consists of one traveler defined by the CDC as Person A, and the second group consists of five people in a bubble defined as Persons B, C, D, E, and F. I did.

According to the investigation, security camera footage revealed four short episodes in which the door opened simultaneously during Mr. A’s infection.

The two rooms were a little over 2 meters apart.

“In New Zealand, international arrivals are quarantined and screened for coronavirus 2 for severe acute respiratory syndrome. Those who test positive are transferred to a controlled quarantine facility (MIF).” The report states.

“Traveler A traveling alone and Person E in a five-person travel group (BCDEF) were positive. After being transferred to MIF, Person A and Group BCDEF occupy a room more than two meters away across the corridor. After that, people B, C, and D were tested positive. The virus sequence was consistent with A and different from E.

“MIF was the only shared location for persons A and B, C, and D, and there was no direct contact. Security camera footage shows four short doors that opened simultaneously during Mr. A’s infection. Revealed the episode.

“This public health survey shows infections from A to B, C, and D while at MIF, and aerial infections are the most reasonable explanation.

“These findings are globally important for public health interventions and infection control practices for coronavirus disease.”

In August, Brigadier General Rose King, co-head of the MIQ system, stayed in a hotel room opposite the same bubble and room detected between July 27 and July 29. He said he had caught the virus from a person who was in the room.

There were no bubble violations, and genomic sequencing revealed that three cases were associated with travelers in the opposite room. It wasn’t the existing case within the four bubbles.

Fix: Earlier versions of this story attributed research to the CDC. The study was actually conducted by a team of scientists based primarily in New Zealand and published by the CDC.