New Zealand has its eighth confirmed case of coronavirus, the Ministry of Health says.
The eighth case a woman in her 30s from Denmark travelling in New Zealand, the Director General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said.
The woman arrived in Auckland via Doha on flight QR920 on March 10, and then flew to Christchurch on Jetstar flight JQ225. She then travelled to Queenstown by rental car, the Ministry of Health said.
She was unwell and hospitalised for one night.
The woman, who was recovering well, was being discharged, the ministry said. She would recover in self isolation and will be monitored daily by health services.
A man in 60s from Australia was the seventh case, Bloomfield said.
He arrived on Air New Zealand flight NZ828 from Brisbane in Wellington on March 14.
The man was now symptom free, the Ministry of Health said, and was now in self isolation with his partner and another family member. He did not require hospital care or other medical treatment.
Three passengers on Golden Princess being tested for coronavirus, Bloomfield said. One has developed symptoms and was being treated as a suspected case.
"Everybody has a significant role to play in keeping Covid-19 out," Bloomfield said.
Canterbury DHB Chief Medical Officer Dr Sue Nightingale said planning for coronavirus began in January.
The DHB was working with GPs, and the first community-based assessment centre would be ready on Wednesday
Nightingale said Canterbury Health Laboratories was looking to ramp up testing.
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Bloomfield said Healthline had been very busy, and was dealing with triple the amount of calls as the same time last year.
The ministry had changed its definition of close contact in line with other countries to be within two metres for 15 minutes, up from one, he said.
Bloomfield said New Zealand had good testing capacity, but doctors would only be testing people who had symptoms, not those who did not.
He said he was disappointed someone who was waiting for test results travelled to New Zealand.
CRUISE SHIP LESSONS
Bloomfield said there were lessons to be learned from the US and Japanese cruise ship situations.
One of the things that was important, he said, was not leaving everyone onboard.
HEALTH STAFF AT AIRPORTS
The Health Ministry would increase staff at airports so public health officials met everyone coming in.
Staff would question people about potential exposure/symptoms and provide advice.
They would inform people about the requirements for self-isolation. There would be further work done on ensuring travellers self-isolated.
Cabinet will meet tomorrow to consider advice around mass gatherings.
New Zealand had taken a different approach to the UK, and was taking steps more in line with Singapore and Taiwan, Bloomfield said.
It was about extending and flattening out the infection cases graph curve to allow the health system to deal with cases in New Zealand.
