A Christchurch high school student has been identified as a close contact of the city's new community case of COVID-19, according to reports.
The Canterbury District Health Board sent a letter to Cashmere High School parents on Tuesday, Stuff reports, confirming the student was a close contact but had tested negative for the virus.
The student is understood to be isolating at home.
"Students and staff do not need to be tested unless they have symptoms of COVID-19, and they do not need to self-isolate," said the letter.
The community case, announced by the Ministry of Health on Monday night, is a managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) staff member working at the Sudima Christchurch Airport, the hotel serving as a dedicated facility for international mariners who arrived on a chartered flight from Russia in October. A large number of the 235 fishermen have tested positive for the virus and are recorded as imported infections in New Zealand's COVID-19 confirmed case total.
Following their isolation period, the mariners will work on fishing boats run by Sealord, Independent Fisheries and Maruha Nichiro. The three companies are covering the quarantine costs, which are expected to be about $1 million.
A deep clean of a Countdown supermarket on Colombo Street, Sydenham was undertaken overnight after the community case visited on Sunday between 11:30am and 12:30pm. It reopened at 8am on Tuesday.
The person, who is not employed by Sudima, is now isolating at home. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern confirmed the case had presented mild symptoms of the virus.
The community case, who is subjected to routine testing as a staff member at the facility, returned a negative test on Thursday, October 29, but developed symptoms of COVID-19 on Saturday. After seeking an additional test on Sunday, they returned a positive result on Monday.
Speaking to The AM Show on Tuesday, Ardern assured Christchurch residents that lockdown is not on the cards following the worker's diagnosis, nor is an alert level shift.
"Definitely not facing anything like that. This actually is an example of exactly what we've built all of our systems and expectations around," she said.
More details on the new case will be provided in the 1pm press conference on Tuesday.
