The Ministry of Health announced on 24th January, 2021 that New Zealand has a community case of Covid-19 from a traveler recently returned to New Zealand and residing in the Northland region. On 27th January, 2 additional community cases in North Auckland were also confirmed.
All three people have recently completed managed isolation after returning to New Zealand from overseas.
Ministry officials have release a list of places of interest visited by these three people – listed here. We are closely monitoring MOH advice and will keep members up to date if there are any developments.
All of New Zealand currently remains at Alert Level 1. At Alert Level 1, the messaging from the Government is that everyone must continue to do their bit to keep New Zealand COVID free.
- stay home if you’re unwell and get tested
- sign into places using the NZ COVID Tracer app and enable Bluetooth (encourage your customers to scan in using your QR poster)
- practice good hygiene (includes washing your hands often and coughing into your elbow)
- regularly clean high touch surfaces.
Out of an abundance of caution, the Ministry of Health are asking individuals who visited any of the locations of interest during the relevant timeframes to stay at home, get tested and contact Healthline. Individuals will need to continue to stay at home until they receive a negative test result back.
There is high demand some of the testing centres. It is important that those who need to get tested are able to do so. To ensure adequate testing facilities are available, additional testing centres are being stood up in the Auckland and Northland regions. In addition, testing centres throughout New Zealand are being asked to ensure they have capacity to meet demands. Full details of testing services throughout New Zealand is available on Healthpoint. You can find a list of Northland testing stations here.
People should continue to seek medical care and go to their scheduled medical appointments for other health issues. Medical facilities remain safe, and people should not delay getting the medical care they need.
If members need to review our Covid-19 advice and resources, head to our Covid-19 hospitality hub: https://www.restaurantnz.co.nz/covid-19-hospitality-hub/, or call our Helpline on 0800 737 827.