The Ministry of Health has confirmed that the whole genome sequencing of the potentially infectious Australian tourist who visited Wellington is the Delta variant of COVID-19.
“New South Wales health officials [last night] confirmed an epidemiological link and we were awaiting confirmation of the completion of whole genome sequencing,” the Ministry said in a statement.
Director of Public Health, Dr Caroline McElnay said the confirmation reinforced that “We are taking the right approach with our precautionary actions to ensure COVID-19 stays out of the community”.
“The signs so far are encouraging – testing has ramped up and there have not been any community cases at this point,” she said.
“But I want to emphasise the importance of staying vigilant, stay home if unwell and get advice about having a test, wash hands regularly, cough and sneeze into the elbow, wear masks or face coverings on all public transport, and keep track of where you’ve been – scan QR codes wherever you go and turn on Bluetooth tracing in the app dashboard.
“It’s incredibly important people keep up to date with the Ministry’s locations of interest in Wellington and if you’ve been at one, to continue to isolate either for the full 14 days and get at least two negative test results or to isolate until a negative day five test, depending on your situation.”
