Coronavirus: What you need to know

Monday, 3 February 2020

Tourists arriving in New Zealand wearing face masks. Any foreign travellers who leave or transit through mainland China will be turned away.

The Ministry of Health has asked people who have travelled to China and are now in self-isolation, as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, to register through its Healthline service. The move follows criticism that the Government hasn't been doing enough to keep track of returnees.

At the same time, people evacuated from virus epicentre Wuhan this week are now in quarantine at a military facility on Whangaparaoa Peninsula.

Worldwide efforts are being taken to contain the spread of the new coronavirus - 2019-nCoV - which was first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December, although work at Johns Hopkins University suggests the outbreak started in November and there were hundreds of cases in Wuhan by early December.

Ministry of Health Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield.

Early on many of those who had the respiratory illness caused by the virus had some link to a large seafood and live animal market in Wuhan.

* All travellers entering New Zealand to be manually processed through customs**

The Government chose Defence Force land, about 40km north of downtown Auckland, to house coronavirus refugees.

* Coronavirus: Healthline to check up on people quarantined at home after visiting China

* Coronavirus: Passengers on flight from Wuhan, China, 'relieved to be in NZ'

That suggested the illness had spread from animals to people initially, before spreading from person-to-person.

By Friday after, John Hopkins' coronavirus dashboard was showing 635 deaths from the coronavirus. All but two - in the Philippines and Hong Kong - were in mainland China, while 618 of the deaths were in Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital.

Coronavirus public meeting with Whangaparaoa community about the evacuees isolated at the Whangaparaoa Naval training base.

Total number of confirmed cases was put at 30,877, of which 30,569 were in mainland China.

Here are some of the key latest developments:

New Zealanders in self-isolation asked to register with Healthline

Kiwis ordered to stay at home after visiting mainland China have been asked to register with Healthline following criticism that the Government is not doing enough to keep tabs on returnees.

Director-general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said: 'By registering through Healthline, staff will be able to check on people's wellbeing and welfare regularly. Registering will also support our broader response to novel coronavirus.'

Initially, the Government was not monitoring whether people arriving from China were following the directive that they isolate themselves at home for 14 days.

However, there have already been reports that some New Zealanders returning from China have ignored the quarantine order.

Li Wenliang tried to warn his medical school classmates on December 30 about the existence of a contagious new virus that resembled the deadly severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

Kiwis evacuated from Wuhan on charter flight

A Government-chartered Air New Zealand flight evacuating New Zealanders, and people of some other nationalities, arrived in Auckland on Wednesday evening.

Altogether 190 people were evacuated, included 98 New Zealand citizens and permanent residents, 23 Australian citizens and 69 foreign nationals, predominantly from Pacific Island countries including Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Kiribati, Tonga, Fiji and the Federated States of Micronesia.

Workers arrange beds in a convention center that has been converted into a temporary hospital in Wuhan.

At Auckland Airport, Ministry of Health Director-General Ashley Bloomfield said nobody on the flight had become unwell and there were no suspected cases of the virus among those on board.

Evacuees, all wearing face masks, were taken on seven buses to a military facility on Whangaparaoa Peninsula, where they were to be quarantined for 14 days. Australians among those on the flight were transferred directly onto a flight to Australia.

The Ministry of Health said 157 people were in isolation at Whangaparaoa.

The Diamond Princess cruise ship is under quarantine in Yokohama, Japan.

Coronavirus evacuees could have stay extended if any test positive

Evacuees staying at a Navy base north of Auckland could have their stay extended if anyone there tests positive for coronavirus.

An official addressed a public meeting on Thursday night in Stanmore Bay, near the Whangaparaoa Navy training area where dozens of Kiwi citizens and permanent residents are staying after they were airlifted from Wuhan on a chartered flight.

The Ministry of Health said the 'returnees' were provided with campervans to use as a private space, although they will not be confined to the recreational vehicles and can move around the base.

The World Dream cruise ship docked at Kai Tak cruise terminal in Hong Kong,

Chinese doctor who tried to raise alarm on coronavirus in Wuhan dies from disease

A Chinese doctor who got in trouble with authorities in the communist country for sounding an early warning about the coronavirus outbreak died on Friday after coming down with the illness.

The Wuhan Central Hospital said on its social media account that Dr Li Wenliang, a 34-year-old ophthalmologist, was 'unfortunately infected during the fight against the pneumonia epidemic of the new coronavirus infection.'

Li was reprimanded by local police for 'spreading rumours' about the illness in late December, according to news reports

Auckland’s popular Lantern Festival has been cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Coronavirus-infected residents rounded up in Wuhan

New Zealanders returning home from or travelling via China will be expected to stay out of public areas and monitor their health as officials grapple with the spread of the coronavirus.

Authorities in Wuhan have been ordered by a senior official to put residents with coronavirus symptoms in isolation, quarantine or designated hospitals, the New York Times reported.

Sun Chunlan, a vice premier leading the central government's coronavirus response, said 'there must be no deserters' during 'these war-time conditions'.

Wuhan residents have been told to check their body temperature on a daily basis and report it to local health authorities. Authorities have been told to conduct door-to-door inspections, and interview infected people's contacts.

The industrial and transportation hub in the province of Hubei, has been in lockdown for two weeks now after the new virus was first identified there.

Kiwi tests positive for coronavirus on quarantined cruise ship in Japan

A New Zealander - one of 13 Kiwis on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship - has tested positive for the coronavirus, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Mfat) has confirmed.

In a statement to Stuff, a Mfat spokesperson said the ministry was giving consular assistance to a New Zealander who has tested positive for coronavirus on the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Yokohama, Japan.

The New Zealander who tested positive was one of 10 people to do so in the latest round of testing performed on board, taking the total to 20.

The ship was docked in the port city of Yokohama, just outside Tokyo, but people who had tested positive were understood to have been transferred to hospitals on land.

New Zealander trapped on second cruise ship quarantined to contain novel coronavirus

Another New Zealander is now in quarantine on a second cruise-ship amid concerns of a novel coronavirus outbreak onboard.

Mfat confirmed a New Zealander is on board the World Dream cruise ship, which is docked in Hong Kong under quarantine after crew members became ill.

In a statement overnight, Dream Cruises said 33 crew members had tested negative for the virus, and it was still waiting on results for one crew member.

Auckland Lantern Festival axed over public safety concerns

Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development spokesman Steve Armitage said after a meeting with Chinese community leaders the consensus was that the festival - due to have been held at Auckland Domain from February 13 - should be cancelled.

'Over the course of the weekend it became quite clear that there was a groundswell of concern building from within the local Chinese community about whether or not it was appropriate to proceed with the event,' he said.

Concerns that the virus could spread at the popular festival, which usually draws crowds of about 200,000, was 'definitely a factor'.

Any foreign travellers who leave or transit through mainland China will be refused entry to NZ

'We have been advised by health officials that while there are still a range of unknowns in the way the virus is being transmitted, we should take a precautionary approach and temporarily stop travel into New Zealand from mainland China, and of people who have recently been in China,' Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.

The ban came into effect on Monday and will be in place for up to 14 days. It's estimated halting all Chinese visitors for two weeks will mean a loss of $94 million in tourism earnings.

New Zealand citizens and permanent residents returning to the country will still be able to enter, as will their immediate family members, but will be required to self-isolate for 14 days once back in New Zealand.

Air New Zealand has also suspended its Auckland-Shanghai route.

International travellers arriving in NZ warned to expect delays

Auckland Airport said flight disruptions and delays could affect international travellers as a result of travel restrictions.

'We are working with multiple agencies and our airline partners to ensure the precautionary measures the New Zealand Government has introduced are carried out, including enhanced screening for arriving travellers,' Auckland Airport's general manager for operations Anna Cassels-Brown said.

Passengers planning to travel to China or via China to other destinations should contact their airline or travel agent before going to the airport, in case of any flight cancellations or schedule changes.

All passengers leaving New Zealand on international flights should allow more time to complete check-in.

Travellers arriving from most countries are being manually processed through Customs. The exceptions are travellers coming from Australia, Singapore and the United States, because of the robust screening in those countries. Those travellers are able to use eGates.

No confirmed coronavirus cases in New Zealand but it's likely

Latest information on the Ministry of Health website on Friday: 'There are no confirmed cases of 2019-nCoV in New Zealand to date but the likelihood of importing a case is high. The risk of an ongoing outbreak in New Zealand remains low, but the Ministry of Health is monitoring the situation closely. If any public health measures are needed for this virus, we will advise.'