Two cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand are being treated as community transmission, Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield told the nation
The Government has confirmed two Covid-19 cases are being treated as community transmission. Community transmission occurs when confirmed cases cannot be linked to overseas travel or other confirmed cases.
“Across all cases, there remain currently two that we cannot be certain where the infection came from and we are therefore treating them as community transmission,” Director-General of Ashley Bloomfield said.
One of the two cases was a person in the Wairarapa whose case was first reported on Saturday, while the other is a person in Auckland whose case was reported Sunday.
“We have expected and indeed want to find any cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand.”
Bloomfield also today announced 36 new cases, bringing the total number in New Zealand to 102.
After Bloomfield’s announcement, Jacinda Ardern said that New Zealand would move to alert level three for 48 hours and then progress into alert level four – lockdown.
Read more of Newsroom’s Covid-19 coverage here.
Covid-19 is transmitted like the flu. The Ministry of Health recommends that all New Zealanders wash their hands frequently and refrain from touching their face in order to protect themselves and others. Call Healthline on 0800 358 5453 if you have any symptoms and have been to any countries or territories of concern or have been in close contact with someone confirmed with Covid-19.
