KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 25 — New Zealand reported its first Covid-19 community case after more than two months.
According to BBC, the 56-year-old woman was initially tested negative for the coronavirus twice during her 14 days’ quarantine period at the country’s designated isolation centre.
However, two days later, she developed symptoms and was tested positive for Covid-19. Before that, the woman visited a few places in New Zealand’s Northland region after her quarantine period.
The 56-year-old infected woman who returned from Europe is said to have contracted the virus from a fellow traveller.
Health officials in New Zealand had contacted the places the woman visited, including cafes, bars and shops. But they could not get connected with all of them.
This identification of the new Covid-19 case has sparked fear among the local community and resulted in long queues at Covid-19 testing centres in New Zealand’s Northland region.
“We want people to be tested, we want to ensure the right people are tested, because that’s how we will confirm that there is no onward community transmission,” the country’s Health director-general Dr Ashley Bloomfield was quoted as saying.
“It’s important that it is prioritised for those people who need the testing.”
So far, New Zealand has reported a total of 2,283 Covid-19 cases with 25 deaths.
