Ministry of Health Director-General Ashley Bloomfield said on Friday another person has tested positive for Covid-19 in Canterbury.
The new case is a man in his 50s who arrived in Christchurch on Sunday, March 15, from Los Angeles on American Airlines flight AA83 to Auckland and Air New Zealand flight NZ535 to Christchurch.
Dr Bloomfield also revealed there were 11 new cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number to 39. Five of the new cases were in Auckland, while two were in Waikato and one each in Canterbury and Hawkes Bay.
Canterbury now has two cases. The first confirmed case is a woman in her 40s, who arrived in Christchurch after returning from London on Monday.
All the new cases are in self-isolation at home.
Travel details released
The Ministry of Health also released travel details and ages of many of the cases:
Case 39 Auckland 60s, Male, travel details to come.
Case 38 Wellington 30s Male travel details to come.
Case 37 Auckland 40s Female, Arrived in Auckland on Sunday 15 March from London via Doha.
Case 36 Auckland 40s Male, Arrived in Auckland from Los Angeles.
Case 35 Auckland 30s Female, Arrived in Auckland from Los Angeles.
Case 34 Waikato 70s Female, Arrived in Auckland from Paris on Emirates EK74 to Dubai, to Auckland on flight Emirates EK450.
Case 33 Waikato 60s Male, Arrived in Auckland from Paris on Emirates EK74 to Dubai, to Auckland on flight Emirates EK450.
Case 32 Hawkes Bay 30s, Male Arrived in Napier on Tuesday 17 March. Munich to Qatar on flight Qatar Airways QR58, Qatar to Auckland on flight Qatar Airways QR920, Auckland to Napier on Air New Zealand flight NZ5021.
Case 31 Wellington 40s Male, Arrived in Wellington on Saturday 14 March from London on flight Singapore Airlines SQ321 to Singapore, to Wellington on flight Singapore Airlines SQ247 via Melbourne.
Case 30 Canterbury 50s Male, Arrived in Christchurch on Sunday 15 March from Los Angeles on flight American Airlines AA83 to Auckland and flight Air New Zealand NZ535 to Christchurch.
Case 29 Auckland, travel details to come.
Travel details for the two Otago cases announced yesterday are yet to be released.
A man in his 60s remains in Queenstown Lakes District Hospital in a stable condition.
Where public health staff had fully investigated the 11 cases, there is again a clear link to overseas travel.
In several other cases, the test results were only confirmed on Friday morning and they are still being followed up fully.
Public health staff interviewed every case in detail so they can quickly trace their movements and identify all people with close contact.
Restrictions at Christchurch libraries, pools and other council facilities
Christchurch City Council is changing the way some community facilities operate to keep them open and limit the spread of Covid-19.
The changes - which include restricting the number of people allowed in each facility and social distancing rules - will affect libraries, service centres, pools, recreation centres, the Christchurch Art Gallery and Botanic Gardens Visitor Centre.
They adhere to the Ministry of Health guidelines on how to limit the spread, said Mary Richardson, who is leading the council’s COVID-19 incident management team.
“We know how important our facilities are to people’s physical and mental health," she said.
"We need to follow the advice from the Ministry of Health about how to prevent the spread of COVID-19 so we are making some changes to how we operate our facilities so we can keep them open.
“We are keeping them open at this stage, but we are limiting numbers so people can stay at a safe distance from each other.
"Where we cannot ensure physical distancing, we are cancelling some classes and public programmes.
“We will keep our facilities open for as long as we can, but this is a very fast moving situation so we may have to adapt and make further changes at short notice."
Providing Support
Said Dr Bloomfield: "We're coming up to the weekend and for the many people in self-isolation it’s important to remember that doesn’t mean social isolation.
"It's really important for mental well-being to stay connected to people."
There were lots of ways to reach out to people by phone, social media, or online contact.
"Talking to people and checking in on others keeps us all connected and that is more important than ever."
Large Gatherings and Physical distancing
To slow the spread of Covid-19, as of Thursday, gatherings of 500 people or more in close proximity outdoors, or 100 people or more indoors, have been cancelled.
This applies to both public events, such as concerts, and private events, such as weddings and funerals.
Organisers of gatherings of any size need to assess the risk they pose to attendees and the community.
"Work, school, and public transport are considered essential gatherings and do not need to be cancelled or closed."
Recovery
Dr Bloomfield said there has been some interest in how many people have fully recovered from Covid-19.
"We are looking at how we collect and report on this information in future.
"Recovery from Covid-19 is a lot like recovering from a flu. You should rest, recuperate, keep up your fluids and get lots of sleep.
"Even when recovered individuals will need to remain in strict isolation until cleared by your health provider."
Self Isolation
As of Friday, a dedicated email address has been set up to access multi-agency assistance and advice where required.
Through this email address, members of the public will be able to access information from Health, Immigration and Police, where and when required.
Priority will be given to messages from confirmed cases and the contacts of confirmed cases. It will also enable notifications of reported breaches of self-isolation and mass gathering requirements.
Dr Bloomfield asked people to use this channel judicially.
Two Southern cases confirmed yesterday
Friday's update comes after the two new Southern cases of Covid-19 announced on Thursday were revealed to be a Dunedin woman in her 30s and a Spanish man in hospital in Queenstown.
That brought the total positive cases in the district to six.
The two southern cases were among 8 new cases revealed yesterday, which brought the overall number who had tested positive in New Zealand to 28.
The Southern District Health Board said it is also tracing the contacts of an Australian who was in Queenstown while infectious.
The Ministry of Health said two of the new cases from Thursday's announcement were in Queenstown and Dunedin.
In Queenstown, a Spanish man is his 60s is unwell and is being cared for at Lakes District Hospital. His wife was being tested and is self-isolating.
Contact tracing has commenced.
In Dunedin, the infected person was a woman in her 30s who had recently travelled to Australia and the United Kingdom, via Los Angeles.
She had mild symptoms and has been self-isolating since returning to New Zealand this week.
Contact tracing was complete for the first three cases, and is ongoing for the Invercargill man diagnosed yesterday.
The SDHB is also undertaking contact tracing in Queenstown in relation to an Australian case, who was in the area while infectious.
"We have been able to reach possible contacts and do not need to publicise his movements as part of the public health response."
It said others in the Southern district who have tested positive for Covid-19 in the past week remain in self-isolation and are recovering well.
