There are 19 cases of Covid-19 in managed isolation to report in New Zealand since December 31, 2020.

There are no new cases in the community.

Of the new border cases:
· One is historical. This person arrived on 19 December from the United States via Australia. This person tested positive at routine testing around day 12 and is staying in quarantine in a facility in Hamilton.
· One case arrived on 20 December from India via the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia. This person tested positive at routine testing around day 12 and has been transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility.
· One case arrived on 23 December from the United Kingdom via Singapore. This person tested positive following the onset of symptoms on day 8 and has been transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility.
· One case arrived on 24 Dec from India via the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia. This person tested positive around day 6 and has been transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility.
· One case arrived 27 December from United Kingdom via United Arab Emirates and Malaysia. This person tested positive during routine testing around day 3 and has been transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility.
· One case arrived on 28 December from the United States. This person tested positive during routine testing around day 3 and has been transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility.
· One case arrived 29 December from United Kingdom via United Arab Emirates. This person tested positive following the onset of symptoms on day 2 and has been transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility.
· One case arrived 29 December from United Kingdom via United Arab Emirates and Malaysia. This person tested positive during routine testing around day 3 and has been transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility.
· One case arrived 29 December from the United Kingdom and tested positive during routine testing around day three. They were transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility.
· One case arrived 29 December from Denmark via United Arab Emirates and Malaysia. This person tested positive following the onset of symptoms on day 1 and is in the Auckland quarantine facility.
· Two cases, travelling together, arrived on 29 December from the United Kingdom via Qatar. They tested positive during routine testing around day 3 and were transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility.
· Four cases, travelling separately, arrived on 29 December from the United Kingdom via United Arab Emirates. They tested positive during routine testing around day 3 and were transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility.
· One case arrived on 29 December from the Seychelles via United Arab Emirates. They tested positive during routine testing around day 3 and were transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility.
· One case arrived on 29 December from South Africa via Singapore. They tested positive during routine testing around day 3 and were transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility.
· One case arrived on 31 December from the United States. This person tested positive on day 0/1 of routine testing and is in a Christchurch quarantine facility.
Two previously reported cases have now recovered. The total number of active cases in New Zealand is 72. Our total number of confirmed cases is 1,825.
The total number of tests processed by laboratories to date to 1,414,422.

UK variant detected
The Ministry of Health can confirm that six positive cases of Covid-19 have been found to match the recently identified UK variant of Covid-19 known as 20B/501Y.V1 (Lineage B.1.1.7).

All positive Covid-19 tests in New Zealand are sent to ESR for whole-genome sequencing as part of the overall elimination strategy. As part of routine sequencing of these particular cases, matches to the UK variant were confirmed.

The six cases, five of whom travelled from the United Kingdom and one who travelled from South Africa, arrived into New Zealand between 13 and 25 December and underwent routine testing in managed isolation as part of routine surveillance testing or because they developed symptoms. Once confirmed positive they were transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility.

Four of these cases are now recovered and, after a final health check, were able to leave the facility.

The cases are all cared for with the same high level of infection prevention measures as all Covid-19 positive cases, with daily health checks and use of PPE. Infection prevention control protocols are in place for all staff and we can assure the public that there is no increased risk to the community.

The UK variant is more transmissible than other variants of the virus but there is no evidence at this stage that the length of the infection period is any different to any other variant of COVID-19, nor is it more likely to produce severe illness.

All cases detected in managed isolation must meet the recovered case definition before being allowed to leave the facility as assessed by the medical team. This includes a period of at least 72 hours without any symptoms and a minimum of 10 days since symptom onset or a positive test.

New testing for high risk countries now in place
New requirements for people arriving from the United Kingdom and United States came into effect as of 11:59pm on December 31 2020. Anyone arriving into New Zealand from the United Kingdom or United States are required to: have a Covid-19 test on day 0, i.e. within 24 hours of arriving into managed isolation and stay in their rooms until a test result is available.

If they are symptomatic on arrival, they will go straight to a quarantine facility.

In addition to this, as announced by the Minister for Covid-19 Response today, from 15 January, travellers from the United Stated and the United Kingdom will be required to get a negative test result for Covid-19 before departing for New Zealand.

The Ministry of Health continues to monitor overseas developments very closely through the holiday period. The added day 0/1 testing and pre-departure COVID-19 test for travellers from these countries are extra precautionary steps which provide another layer of protection for New Zealand from COVID-19.

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