Covid-19: two more cases in Nelson region

Tuesday, 30 November 2021

There are two more active cases of Covid-19 in the Nelson region, the Ministry of Health announced on Tuesday.

It follows the announcement that there was an active case in the region on Monday – the first since 2020.

Both of the new cases were known contacts of the first case.

All three cases were in isolation, and investigations into the source of infection were ongoing, the Ministry said in its daily update.

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**

“So far, initial case interviews have identified a small number of close contacts, who are also isolating with testing arranged.”

A Ministry of Health spokesperson said a link to another case has not yet been identified.

The cases had been co-operating with Nelson Marlborough public health, which had “enabled health staff to determine a range of initial locations of interest across Nelson and Tasman”, the Ministry’s statement said.

Several exposure events were being assessed and locations of interest have been published on the Ministry’s website, dating back to November 19, and more were expected to be added.

These include service stations, local restaurants, Richmond Mall, and a poultry farm.

Nelson Marlborough Health chief medical officer Dr Nick Baker said it was entirely possible there were more people in the community who had Covid but did not know it yet.

“Whenever we have a case like this, we're never quite sure which case we've found,” he said.

“If you imagine [Covid-19 like] a stone dropped into a pond, when you find a ripple, are you at the edge of the pond and there's ripples everywhere else as well, or are you at the first one right in the middle.

“With the Marlborough case we had recently, we did catch the case right in the middle and so there were no more.”

Contacts were being checked diligently to determine how prevalent Covid-19 was in the community, but in the meantime everyone needed to 'keep doing the good things that they're doing' to keep themselves and others safe, he said.

That included wearing masks, hand-washing, and contact tracing, with the addition of a daily check-in to see what the locations of interest were.

He said people should treat checking locations of interest 'like brushing your teeth', doing it every day, and if possible twice.

“This is really telling us that Covid is potentially in the community, and at this stage we're not sure how prevalent it is.”

Anyone with symptoms was urged to get tested, even if they were vaccinated, and remain isolated until they received a negative result.

On Tuesday, long queues had formed as people rushed to get tested.

Nationally, there were 134 new cases on Tuesday.

Where to get tested:

• Stoke CBAC: Saxton Field parking area, Suffolk Rd, Stoke

  • 9am to 6pm

  • Tuesday 30 November to Friday 3 December

• Nelson CBAC: Trafalgar Centre carpark, Paru Paru Rd

  • 9am to 6pm

  • Tuesday 30 November