Covid-19 Updates: New Zeeland Reports A new Case of Community Transmission

The island country has been in the South Pacific has been praised for how it managed the Covid-19 pandemic so far. According to the data provided by the Ministry of Health, there have been 2,554,150 doses of Covid-19 doses administered so far. The total population of New Zeeland in 2019 was 4.917 million, according to official statistics. The country has reported 2,926 cases of Covid-19 infection since the beginning of the pandemic in 2019 and only 26 deaths. Recently, a case of community transmission has been reported in Auckland, the first one since February. 

The New Zeeland Government still recommends safety measures

Although there have not been many reported cases of SARS-CoV-2 infections in New Zeeland, the Government advises people to follow basic protection measures such as wearing masks in public, frequent handwashing and using QR codes for content tracing. Those who feel sick need to remain at home and call their health provider. There is also a health line for those who want to get tested. The news that there has been a new case of community transmission is surprising since the country has done such as a great job. 

The Health Authorities are investigating the situation

According to the report, the health authorities investigate how the person got infected, and they contact tracing people to avoid a potential outbreak. In addition, 100% of the 19 cases detected at the border recently were caused by the Delta strain. It remains unknown if the community case was related to the highly virulent Delta strain. 

What are the implications of a new community case?

According to experts, there are several possible implications. One is that more community cases are not being reported. It is also possible that infected people have been asymptomatic. Another option is that the case could be related to the border infection cases.