Covid 19 coronavirus: Four new cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand today - all in MIQ

The Pakistan Cricket team arriving in Christchurch on November 24. Photo / Supplied

There are four new cases of Covid-19 today in managed isolation facilities in New Zealand.

There are no new community cases.

The new cases include a person who arrived from Ethiopia via Dubai and Kuala Lumpur on November 14.

The person tested positive on day 11 of isolation, on Friday, and the case is being included in today's total following a database reconciliation, the Ministry of Health says.

Two of today's cases were people who arrived from the United States of America on November 23. They were tested on day five of isolation because a person in their bubble had previously tested positive.

The final case today is a person who arrived from the United States on November 26. The person tested positive on routine day three testing.

One previously reported case has now recovered, bringing the number of active cases to 72.

New Zealand today recorded 1700 confirmed Covid cases.

Pakistan cricket squad

The Pakistan cricket squad's day six tests will be conducted today.

Following the results of these tests, the Canterbury DHB medical officer of health will conduct an assessment of whether the team members who have not returned positive tests can have an exemption from managed isolation to train.

For this to occur, the medical officer of health must be satisfied that training is unlikely to transmit Covid-19.

The Ministry of Health said, as reported yesterday, six members of the team tested positive on day 1 testing. Two of these cases were subsequently determined to be historical infections, so were not infectious.

One member of the team tested positive during day 3 testing. The remaining 46 members of the squad in managed isolation in Christchurch returned negative results at day 3.

The ministry today said the NZ Covid Tracer app now has 2,388,200 registered users.

The ministry said, as the country headed into Christmas and the summer holiday period, people were asked to continue to keep track of where they had been and who they had seen.

"This is important as you might not be able to remember all the places you visit so get into the habit of signing in every time you enter a new place," the ministry said.

The easiest way to keep a private record was by scanning the QR codes with the app.

"Remember, it's important you keep a record in case this is required for contact tracing purposes – if a case of Covid-19 was to emerge, being able to quickly trace anyone who has been in contact with that person will be critical to helping us stamp it out," said the ministry.

The Chateau on the Park in Christchurch where the Pakistan Cricket Team is undergoing managed isolation and quarantine. Photo / Supplied

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Yesterday's cases

Yesterday, there were 69 active cases in New Zealand.

Seven of the 53 touring Pakistani cricket squad had tested positive for the infection.

The last time an infection took hold in a group in managed isolation was in October when 31 foreign seamen fell ill during their 14-day quarantine period before heading offshore to work in vessels.

Six members of the squad tested positive at day 1 testing, and one tested positive at day 3 testing.

The team sparked outrage and a stern warning from the country's top health official after it was revealed some of the squad were caught on security footage flouting strict isolation rules at their facility, including socialising in hotel hallways and not wearing masks.

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As a result, the director-general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield put the tourists on "final notice".

Blood testing confirmed two of the original six cases are historic cases and not infectious.

All 53 members of the squad in managed isolation in Christchurch have had serology tests, in addition to the routine PCR testing for the virus which has identified a further 11 people had previous "historic" infections.

Yesterday there was one new case in managed isolation, a person who returned from Jordon on November 26 and is now in a quarantine facility in Auckland.

Meanwhile today the Prime Minister announced a vaccine would likely become available in limited supply in March at the earliest.

Jacinda Ardern told Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking she would be revealing a more detailed roll-out of vaccination plan later next month when there was more certainty around supply.

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