There are no new cases of COVID-19 in New Zealand's managed isolation facilities, the Ministry of Health announced on Monday.
It has been 87 days since the last case of the disease was acquired locally from an unknown source. This indicates there is no evidence of community transmission in New Zealand.
The total number of confirmed cases remains at 1206, which is the number reported to the World Health Organization.
As of Monday there are 21 active cases of the virus, detected due to routine testing in managed isolation or quarantine facilities. The active cases are all New Zealand citizens or permanent residents, who returned to the country from overseas. The Ministry of Health says new arrivals are to be tested around day three and day 12 of their mandatory 14-day managed isolation period as part of the COVID-19 testing strategy.
None of the active cases are receiving hospital-level care for the virus.
On Sunday laboratories completed 550 tests - 270 of which were swabs completed from managed isolation and quarantine facilities - bringing the total number of tests completed to date to 456,227.
"We regularly see lower testing rates at weekends. Additionally, the country enjoyed a generally mild weekend of weather, which continues to contribute to unusually low levels of people presenting with flu-like symptoms and respiratory issues," the Ministry of Health said in Monday's statement.
Efforts will continue this week to increase the amount of community-based testing for New Zealanders presenting respiratory symptoms. The ministry is working closely with the Colleges of GPs, Urgent Care and Emergency Medicine and their members to offer testing to all people who present with symptoms.
The second area of focus is working with the District Health Boards to ensure testing is widely available, including at general practices and community-based assessment centres.
"Thirdly, as New Zealanders we all have a part to play, and the ministry encourages anyone who is offered a swab, to take up that offer," says the statement.
"Testing remains an important part of our overall strategy to detect any community cases of COVID-19 as quickly as possible.
"It's also important to remember the basic public health measures which keep communities protected: staying home if you're sick, frequent hand-washing and good sneeze and cough etiquette."
Monday's update also addressed the positive COVID-19 case who travelled from New Zealand to South Korea.
The individual left New Zealand six days ago on July 21 and arrived in South Korea on July 22 after transiting through Singapore. The traveller had no symptoms but returned a positive test on arrival.
Healthcare staff working across multiple sites
The Ministry of Health is working through updated advice with the COVID-19 Clinical Governance Group, which has oversight of clinical practices, including nursing, within managed isolation and quarantine facilities, according to Monday's statement.
The updated advice will recommend rostering guidelines for nurses working at managed isolation and quarantine facilities, as well as limiting staff same-day redeployment to different workplaces, and improving managers' knowledge of which staff have secondary employment, so additional risk factors can be assessed and managed.
Within managed isolation and quarantine facilities nurses have access to appropriate PPE, follow sound personal hygiene practices and keep to physical distancing requirements, the ministry reiterated. Nurses also have regular health checks and are regularly offered testing for COVID-19, even if they are not symptomatic.
"The updated advice will apply to all healthcare staff working in managed isolation and quarantine facilities. It will be shared tomorrow with District Health Boards that have managed isolation and quarantine facilities in their region, before being finalised," says the statement.
"The ministry will also provide the updated recommendations to other agencies employing staff within managed isolation and quarantine facilities to help ensure a consistent approach in terms of these types of work practices."
The Government's official contact tracing app, NZ COVID Tracer, has recorded 620,000 registrations as of Monday. QR code posters displayed at businesses nationwide have been scanned more than 1.57 million times to date.
