Tuesday 29 September 2020


There are two new cases of COVID-19 to report in New Zealand today. Both are imported cases detected in a managed isolation facility.

One person arrived on a flight from Ukraine on 23 September via the United Arab Emirates.

The other person arrived in New Zealand on a flight from Pakistan via the United Arab Emirates on 23 September. They were on the same flight but not travelling together. Both individuals tested positive as a result of tests done around day three and have been transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility.

There are no new cases in the community.

There are 18 people isolating in the Auckland quarantine facility from the community, which includes 9 people who have tested positive for COVID-19 and their household contacts. One person is in hospital with COVID-19 at Middlemore hospital. The patient is in isolation on a general ward.

Since August 11, our contact tracing team has identified 4,079 close contacts of cases, of which 4,079 have been contacted and are self-isolating or have completed self-isolation.

Our total number of active cases is 55; of those, 29 are imported cases in MIQ facilities, and 26 are community cases. Our total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 is 1,479, which is the number we report to the World Health Organization.

Yesterday our laboratories processed 3,636 tests, bringing the total number of tests completed to date to 955,590.

School holidays
We all need to remain vigilant these school holidays to stop any spread of COVID-19.

While many people will be enjoying a break over the next two weeks, it’s also important to remember that the COVID-19 virus exploits any opportunity to spread.

Please don’t let your guard down, and remember:

• If you become unwell while on holiday, call Heathline, your GP, or Nurse Practitioner who can advise whether you should be tested. If you’re advised to get a test, please do so; don’t wait until you get home to get tested.

• Continue to sign into places using the NZ COVID Tracer app or keep a record of where you’ve been. This is especially important when on holiday because you may not remember all the locations you’ve visited.

• Maintain good hygiene practices, including washing and drying your hands, or use hand sanitiser if unable to wash your hands.


• Remember, while in Level 2 it’s mandatory to wear a mask on public transport in Auckland. You are encouraged to wear one on public transport throughout the rest of New Zealand. Use hand sanitiser regularly, especially when entering and exiting public transport.

• When flying to, through or from Auckland it’s mandatory to wear a mask. It’s encouraged to wear a mask when flying on other regional routes. Use hand sanitiser or wash your hands before, during and after the flight.

We’ll be working closely with all district health boards to reinforce this messaging over the school holiday period.

An update on the three cases reported on 23 September
Public health services continue to contact trace, test and isolate close contacts of the three community cases reported this week.

There are a total of 44 close contacts associated with these cases. All are now self-isolating. All but one have returned negative test results and the remaining result is pending.

NZ COVID Tracer
There are now 2,283,600 users registered on NZ COVID Tracer. The app has recorded a total of 78,171,245 poster scans, and users have created 3,412,520 manual diary entries in NZ COVID Tracer.