The 56-year-old woman traveled in Spain and the Netherlands late last year and passed through Singapore before arriving Dec. 30 in New Zealand. She quarantined at the Pullman hotel in Auckland for two weeks and tested negative twice, the health ministry said inAfter leaving quarantine Jan. 13 she traveled home with her husband, started feeling ill, and tested positive for coronavirus Jan. 23.
“This is good news because it means we know the source of the infection, and we don’t have to divert our scientists and experts from other COVID work to identify the source,” Hipkins said. The government is now contacting the 253 people who stayed at the hotel Jan. 9-24, plus staff, and advising them to self-quarantine and get tested, Hipkins said.Health authorities have found a small number of cases of UK and South African variants in returning travelers who were in quarantine, the government says.
The last reported case of community spread of the coronavirus was Nov. 18, the Health Ministry’s COVID dashboard says. New Zealand has controlled the virus by imposing strict travel restrictions and an aggressive national lockdown when the first cases were detected.