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.
Pacific Islands look to US, Australia, New Zealand for Covid-19 vaccines
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.
Bloomfield said they were investigating to see whether its possible she caught the disease from another returning traveller who was staying in the same quarantine facility.
“This is a reminder to all of us that the pandemic continues and that this is a tricky virus,” he said.
New Covid-19 variant in UK might be more deadly, says Boris Johnson
The country has had only a total of 1,927 confirmed cases so far, but with the pandemic raging globally, more people are returning to New Zealand with infections including the new variants from the UK and South Africa, raising concerns the virus may spread in the community again.
On Sunday, there were eight new infections, all returning travellers who are being quarantined at the border, bringing the total active cases among those quarantined to 79, the ministry said in a separate statement.
Pressures has been mounting on Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s government to vaccinate the population, but New Zealand has said the majority of its population would only be vaccinated in the second half of the year.
09:50
SCMP Explains: What's the difference between the major Covid-19 vaccines?
Pakistan close to approving Russia’s Sputnik vaccine
Bloomberg - Pakistan is close to granting approval to Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine, as world’s fifth most-populous nation looks to start inoculations against the coronavirus.
The country’s technical committee has cleared and recommended the vaccine to the drug registration board that is considering Sputnik’s application, said Akhtar Abbas Khan, spokesperson for Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan.
“Before issuing a letter ... some administration process is left and then we can say,” he said.
Concern is mounting over the growing vaccine disparity between rich and poor nations, which the World Health Organization’s director-general has called a “catastrophic moral failure”.
Is India jumping the gun with its ‘vaccine diplomacy’?
Pakistan is not among the 55 nations that have started administering shots, according to data collected by Bloomberg.
The South Asian country has already ordered 1.2 million doses from Chinese state-backed vaccine developer Sinopharm, with deliveries to start January 31. It has also given approval to AstraZeneca Plc’s shot for private use.
CanSino Biologics Inc has also offered 20 million shots to Pakistan as it gets ready to release efficacy results “in a few days” from recently-completed Phase III trials, according to its local partner.
Controversy has swirled around Sputnik V since Russian President Vladimir Putin announced its registration for use before large-scale clinical studies were completed. Its developers have since said that an interim analysis of final-stage studies indicated it was more than 91 per cent effective after volunteers received two doses.
Pakistan is currently being hit by a second wave of infections that caused a peak in hospitalisations and deaths last month. The outbreak has infected about 530,000 and killed over 11,000.
Australia eyes vaccination drive even as pandemic is under control
Australia recorded no new local coronavirus cases on Sunday, maintaining a recent run of success in keeping the virus at bay, but nevertheless is keen to press on with its vaccination campaign from next month, government officials said.
Australia’s first batch of the Pfizer vaccine is due to arrive in February and its campaign will then begin with people over 70, adults with underlying medical conditions and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people at the front of the queue.
“We have the virus under control here in Australia but we want to roll out the vaccine,” Treasurer Josh Frydenberg told a news conference.
For Chinese migrants in Australia, adapting to new home made worse by racism, Covid-19
The campaign was on track despite the low transmission numbers and shortage of supply of the Pfizer vaccine seen in some other countries, he said.
People can apply to get the vaccine from Monday.
Australia has fared better than most other developed economies in the pandemic through swift border closures, lockdowns, strict hotel quarantine for travellers and widespread testing and social distancing.
It has had just under 28,800 cases in all, the overwhelming majority in Victoria state, and 909 deaths.
Victoria saw its 18th straight day of no local transmissions and there were no new community cases in New South Wales and Queensland, which had outbreaks in recent weeks, health data showed.
Reporting by AP, Bloomberg, Reuters
