New Zealand has recorded two new cases of Covid-19, in a couple who caught a repatriation flight from India to Auckland.
Their baby, who was travelling with them, has not been tested due to its young age and may also be infected.
The director general of health, Dr Ashley Bloomfield, said the couple were asymptomatic but the infection was detected under a routine testing program that was introduced on 9 June. All new arrivals to New Zealand are tested on days 3 and 12 of their 14-day mandatory quarantine, even if they don’t have symptoms.
Prime minister Jacinta Ardern declared NZ Covid-free on 8 June, but that run was interrupted on 16 June when two British women, who were released early from mandatory hotel quarantine, tested positive.
Bloomfield said New Zealand was “always expecting to get new cases at our borders as Kiwis return home from overseas”.
He added “We are seeing an increasing number of kiwis returning to the country from around the globe … there is still a global pandemic raging offshore.There is an increased likelihood we will see kiwis coming back, especially from countries with higher rates of infection like India”
The couple, who are in their 20s, arrived on Air India flight AI1306, and transferred to a quarantine hotel in Auckland that is being used a managed isolation activity. Everyone in the hotel has been barred from leaving until contact tracing interviews take place, even if they have tested negative, to make sure the couple did not interact with anyone.
Bloomfield said the detection of the new cases showed the testing system was working. He also cautioned people against discriminating against people who had tested positive to Covid-19, saying the virus does not discriminate.
