NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Covid 19 coronavirus: Update on New Zealand's cases as new strain grips UK

NZ Herald
21 Dec, 2020 12:52 AM6 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

The Ministry of Health is providing an update on the latest Covid-19 cases in New Zealand. Photo / Dean Purcell

The Ministry of Health is providing an update on the latest Covid-19 cases in New Zealand. Photo / Dean Purcell

There are five new cases of Covid-19 in managed isolation today.

The Ministry of Health also said a range of amendments to border orders come into effect from today "to further strengthen and fine-tune New Zealand's frontline defences against Covid-19".

Changes to the Air and Isolation & Quarantine Orders include:

• an amendment to the definition of 'aircrew' to include aircrew who are not working, coming back from an overseas leg;

• exclusion from managed isolation for a small number of additional people, where the health risk is deemed very low;

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

• amendments to the restrictions for New Zealand-based aircrew operating international flights.

Changes to the Maritime Border Order include:

• improved clarity on the requirements for foreign ships seeking exemption from the Order to enter New Zealand for the purposes of repair, refit or refurbishment;

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

• mandating personal protective equipment (PPE) be used in specific high-risk scenarios on ports and ships.

New strain

A new variant of the disease has arrived in the UK and a top New Zealand epidemiologist warns it will be here within the next few weeks.

Top health officials in the UK say there is no evidence the new variant is more deadly, or will react differently to vaccines, but it was proving to be up to 70 per cent more transmissible, the BBC reports.

The Ministry said today health authorities in the UK were in communication with other authorities around the world including New Zealand about the emergence of the strain, known as the B.1.1.7 strain.

Discover more

World

The coronavirus is mutating. What does that mean for us?

21 Dec 04:00 AM
New Zealand

NZ will see new Covid variant within weeks - epidemiologist

20 Dec 08:19 PM
World

Mutant Covid strain: Europe closes its borders to UK

20 Dec 05:32 PM
World

Sydney covid cluster: Officials still searching for source of outbreak

20 Dec 06:03 AM

It has not been seen in New Zealand cases to date.

"The Ministry of Health is confident New Zealand's current use of PPE, testing strategy and 14-day managed isolation for all arrivals is appropriate. The Ministry continues to review these tools in light of any new and emerging evidence."

The Ministry said it maintained that our most important protection at the border is the 14 days in isolation and/or quarantine, together with daily symptom checks and testing at day 3 and day 12 (with additional testing if symptomatic).

"We are also confident our current PCR testing would detect this and any new strains."

Kiwi epidemiologist Michael Baker said the new Covid-19 strain was only a problem for New Zealand if the virus was imported.

"Basically every time we get an infected person going into a MIQ facility in New Zealand, it increases the risk of outbreaks because mistakes happen and it's a tough virus to control."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Ministry officials also continued to liaise with health officials in New South Wales following an increase in Covid-19 cases in the Australian state.

The specific genome identified in New South Wales has not been seen in New Zealand cases to date.

New cases

Today's new cases include:

• One case arrived on December 10 from the United States. This person tested positive due to the onset of symptoms around day 9 and has been transferred to quarantine in a facility in Christchurch.

• One case arrived on December 10 from the United States. This person tested positive due to the onset of symptoms around day 9 and has been transferred to quarantine in a facility in Christchurch.

• One case arrived on December 16 from South Korea. This person tested positive at routine testing around day 3 and has been transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

• One case arrived on December 16. The country of origin is not yet available. This person tested positive at routine testing around day 3 and has been transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility.

• One additional case arrived on December 18 from Russia via Singapore, and was tested on arrival. This result is regarded as indicating previous infection – referred to as an historical case.

The person was tested on arrival before transiting to a fishing vessel in Lyttleton on the same day. The vessel left New Zealand shortly after the crew's arrival and is now in international waters.

It will not be returning to New Zealand for some months. The person had a previous infection, consistent with Covid-19, reported in Russia and their latest test result is interpreted as reflecting that previous infection. The person is not regarded as infectious.

The Ministry is still determining whether this case should be reported against our country's tally (as it has been today) or whether it should be reported as a case in Russia.

One previously reported case has now recovered. The total number of active cases in New Zealand is 59. Our total number of confirmed cases is 1,765.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The total number of tests processed by laboratories to date is 1,374,050.

Over the weekend, there were six new cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand reported, all in managed isolation.

The new cases reported over the weekend had come from South Africa, Australia, the United States and the Netherlands and had all been moved into quarantine facilities, the Ministry of Health said.

One arrived on December 8 from South Africa. This person tested positive at routine testing around day 12 and has been transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility.

One case arrived on December 8 from Australia. This person tested positive at routine testing around day 12 and has been transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility.

One case arrived on December 10 from the United States. This person tested positive around day 7. They were tested as they are a close contact of an existing case in managed isolation. This person is now in quarantine in a facility in Christchurch.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

One case arrived on December 15 from the Netherlands, via Qatar and Australia. This person tested positive at routine testing around day 3 and has been transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility.

One case arrived on December 15 from the Netherlands, via Qatar and Australia. This person tested positive at routine testing around day 3 and has been transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility.

One case arrived on December 15 from South Africa. This case has tested positive during routine testing around day 3 and has been transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility.

NZ Covid Tracer and Bluetooth update

The NZ Covid Tracer app now has 2,414,100 registered users.

Poster scans have reached 142,042,068 and app users have created 5,722,190 manual diary entries.

Approximately 390,000 app users have now turned on Bluetooth tracing.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The Ministry of Health said it was pleased by the level of uptake and continues to encourage people to start using the Bluetooth function.

"This will allow you to receive an alert if you have been near another app user who tests positive for Covid-19," the Ministry said.

As New Zealand enters the summer holiday break, the Ministry said it would like to remind everyone to keep each other safe and use the app, to scan QR codes and turn on Bluetooth functionality.

Ministry of Health updates over the holiday period

The Ministry will continue through the holiday period to provide updates about cases and actions taken in response.

Upcoming scheduled reporting dates will be: Wednesday December 23; Sunday December 27; Tuesday December 29; Thursday December 31; Sunday January 3; Tuesday January 5; Thursday January 7 and Sunday January 10.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

live
New Zealand

Stay inside: Nelson residents face new threat tonight

11 Jul 08:18 AM
New Zealand|crime

'S*** happens': Injured motorcyclist's gracious response to being hit by car

11 Jul 08:00 AM
Politics

Peeni Henare likely favourite to stand for Labour in Tāmaki Makaurau byelection

11 Jul 07:20 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Stay inside: Nelson residents face new threat tonight
live

Stay inside: Nelson residents face new threat tonight

11 Jul 08:18 AM

High winds are ramping up.

'S*** happens': Injured motorcyclist's gracious response to being hit by car

'S*** happens': Injured motorcyclist's gracious response to being hit by car

11 Jul 08:00 AM
Peeni Henare likely favourite to stand for Labour in Tāmaki Makaurau byelection

Peeni Henare likely favourite to stand for Labour in Tāmaki Makaurau byelection

11 Jul 07:20 AM
Watch: 'My raging backyard river' - North Shore homeowner fears stormwater torrent

Watch: 'My raging backyard river' - North Shore homeowner fears stormwater torrent

11 Jul 06:00 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP