Covid 19 Coronavirus: Suspected Covid case at Tauranga Harbor

Health officials are investigating a suspicious historical case of Covid-19 detected in a crew member arriving at Tauranga Harbor over the weekend.

Once confirmed, it will be the second case in the community in just two days, following yesterday’s announcement of the genitive of port workers.

Earlier today, the Ministry of Health stated that there were no new cases of Covid-19 to be announced in community or controlled quarantine.

However, in a statement this afternoon, the ministry confirmed that it was investigating a suspicious historical incident of Covid-19 detected in the crew of IVS Merlion, which is currently moored at Tauranga Harbor.

The crew returned a weakly positive Covid-19 test with a high CT value indicating an old infection, the ministry said.

“This crew had Covid-19 some time ago and does not seem to be infectious anymore. IVS Merlion arrived in New Zealand waters on October 15 after leaving Indonesia on September 24. . “

The person did not inform the other crew of the infection. The crew were all negative and had been on board for three weeks.

“As a precautionary approach, the cases under investigation were quarantined and repeated Covid-19 tests as well as blood tests. The results of these tests confirm whether they are historical cases. . “

The ministry said the risk of virus transmission to the community was very low.

All crew members in the historic event were considered to be closely associated until the health authorities completed the investigation.

The crew cannot leave the IVS Merlion.

Mark Cairns, CEO of Tauranga Harbor, said early detection would allow border control and coastal vacation protocols at the port to work if the second crew member tested positive for the virus. He told BusinessDesk that it was shown to be.

A Cairns spokesman confirmed to NZME that a suspected case of Covid-19 is under investigation.

A spokesman for the port of Tauranga said the crew in question did not come to the shore and the risk of infection was low for historical events.

She said contact tracing is currently underway for dock workers who tested positive for Covid-19 last week. This included the vessels on which the workers were on board.

“The worker hasn’t been in Tauranga for quite some time.”

However, one of those ships, Safranasaville, arrived in Tauranga from Brisbane between October 10th and 12th.

A spokeswoman said the operation of Tauranga Harbor would be normal.

The Ministry of Health said today that Sofrana Sirville, a vessel from Auckland and Noumea to Brisbane, is most likely the source of infection for port workers who tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday.

Ken Ray, a ship with a crew of 21 off the coast of Napier, was also being monitored, according to Ashley Bloomfield, director of health.

A marine electronics technician who tested positive for the virus on Friday worked on both ships. The new case was announced yesterday.

Genomic sequencing showed that the Covid-19 strain had never been previously seen in New Zealand and was not associated with the recent August outbreak or other New Zealand cases, Bloomfield said. ..

There is close contact with 29 of the men, including 21 on board a ship off Napier, contact information for four households, three dock workers in Taranaki, and one workplace worker.

All of these are quarantined for 14 days, regardless of whether the test result is negative.

So far, two of one workplace contact and four home contacts have been tested negative for Covid-19.

The contacts of the other two households were waiting for the test results.

Bloomfield said yesterday that the man was potentially infectious on Wednesday and Thursday when he was working in New Plymouth, Kenley.

He drove alone from Auckland to New Plymouth on Tuesday and stayed in two rooms while there, but was then thoroughly cleaned and returned to Auckland on Wednesday night.

“There is no evidence of future community infections so far,” Bloomfield said yesterday.

Today, Bloomfield said health officials are still working on what other crew members who test positive for the coronavirus will do.

The New Zealand Maritime Union said positive cases indicate that New Zealand needs a limited number of ports.

Union Secretary of State Joe Fleetwood told Business Desk that Union had repeatedly raised the issue of international vessels carrying domestic cargo between all New Zealand ports.

All New Zealand ports are international borders, endangering union members, according to Fleetwood.