A man who flew from New Zealand and tested positive for COVID-19 on arrival in South Korea visited a McDonald's in Christchurch prior to his flight.
The Canterbury District Health Board confirmed to Newshub that the South Korean national visited the fast-food restaurant - located on Memorial Ave near Christchurch International Airport - on Monday, July 20.
The Ministry of Health released information regarding the positive case on Monday after being informed by its South Korean counterparts of the infection. It's known that the man boarded a domestic flight from Auckland to Christchurch before leaving the country on July 21. He transited through Singapore and arrived in South Korea on July 22.
South Korean health officials believe it's likely the man contracted the virus during his stopover in Singapore - however, the ministry said on Monday that infection while in New Zealand "can't be ruled out". It still remains unknown whether the traveller contracted COVID-19 locally or overseas.
Dr Cheryl Brunton, a Medical Officer of Health at the Canterbury District Health Board, confirmed to Newshub that the Memorial Ave McDonald's was requested by public health staff to review its CCTV footage and report back to the team.
Dr Brunton said there were very few customers in the restaurant at the time of the man's visit, and none of the staff or other patrons are considered close contacts.
"They are safe. There were very few other customers in the store at the time the case visited and no one in the store - staff or customer - is considered a close contact," she said.
However, it's understood that staff at the branch were only informed of the positive case via an email on Wednesday night - more than a week after the man dined there.
An employee who contacted NZME said she was "furious" and did not wish to return to work until everyone had been tested.
Staff have been told that getting tested for the virus is unnecessary, due to the restaurant's rigorous and regular cleaning procedures.
"McDonalds have a regular programme of cleaning and disinfection for high touch points, such as their kiosks, in their stores and no additional measures are necessary," Dr Brunton said.
The man also reportedly visited a local Countdown prior to his flight to South Korea. A deep clean of the supermarket was performed on Tuesday.
News of the man's positive test result broke on Monday following a report by South Korean media over the weekend, noting that one of its 13 new imported cases had arrived from New Zealand.
It was announced on Wednesday that all household contacts of the case have tested negative for the virus.
"We can report today that the Auckland household contacts of this individual have all returned negative results, reinforcing the current low risk of this case to New Zealand," the MoH said on Wednesday.
"We are working with our counterparts in Korea and Singapore to further investigate the situation."
Passengers on the domestic flight from Auckland to Christchurch have also been contacted by health officials. All related tests undertaken to date have returned a negative result, including test results obtained from Christchurch Airport staff.
As of Wednesday, it has been 89 days since New Zealand's last case of COVID-19 was acquired locally from an unknown source, indicating there is no evidence of community transmission in the country.
