Coronavirus latest: New Zealand PM warns new outbreak will get worse; India deaths surpass Britain
- New Zealand is investigating the ‘low possibility’ that the virus arrived via freight as the new cases are linked to a cool store that imports frozen goods
- India’s Covid-19 death toll topped Britain’s with 47,033 fatalities
The cool store is operated by the New Zealand unit of US-based Americold Realty Trust.
Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield had earlier raised the possibility of the virus arriving in New Zealand via freight but on Thursday said it was a “low possibility”. Still, officials wanted to formally rule it out, he said. China has reported the virus on frozen food packages from South America.
Some prominent local health experts suggested it was more likely the virus had been quietly spreading in Auckland for weeks, despite Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s efforts to eradicate it with an initial five week hard lockdown.
New Zealand had not recorded a new case of Covid-19 for more than three months until the discovery of four infected family members in Auckland two days ago.
Thirteen new cases were reported on Thursday and all are linked back to the infected family via work or broader family connections. A member of the family works in the cool store. This brings the total number of active cases to 36.
Ardern, who swiftly reimposed tight movement restrictions in Auckland and social distancing measures across the rest of the country after the new cases were discovered, told a news conference on Thursday: “Once again we are reminded of how tricky this virus is and how easily it can spread.