Coronavirus: New Zealand records first community case in over two months
- A 56-year-old woman who had travelled around Europe tested positive for the virus after clearing 14 days of quarantine
- She visited 30 local destinations, including restaurants and tourist attractions, before being diagnosed
Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said Sunday the case was a 56-year-old woman who arrived in Auckland from London on December 30 after travelling in Spain and the Netherlands.
Like other returning travellers, she spent 14 days in quarantine and twice tested negative before returning home on January 13.
The woman visited 30 locations around Northland including cafes, restaurants and tourist attractions, before developing symptoms and testing positive for Covid-19.
Authorities were working to trace the woman’s movements and contacting anyone who may have come into contact with her. Four close contacts had already been identified and put into isolation.
It is not known how the woman was infected or whether the infection is new, Bloomfield said.
“We are working under the assumptions that this is a positive case and that it is a more transmissible variant, either the one identified first in South Africa or the UK, or potentially Brazil – or another transmissible variant,” he told a news conference.