News and Notices

Close contacts of new case test negative


The Nelson Marlborough Public Health Service continues to investigate the source of the new Nelson case confirmed on 29 April.

NMH Clinical Director of Public Health confirmed that the test results for the close contacts (including supermarket co-workers) of the new case are negative.

Dr Stephen Bridgman says that while the case may be travel-related, this does not necessarily mean that the case originated in the country of travel. He says that travel-related cases can also be caused by contact with an infected passenger on a flight or at an airport in transit.

Dr Bridgman also says that current evidence suggests there is no community transmission in the Nelson region, and that the risks to the public from this case are very low. This is because:

  • the case was not working in a predominantly customer-facing role before the positive test results came in and the case went into isolation at home
  • the case wore a face-mask in the workplace
  • no close contacts of the case have tested positive
  • the case did not have a cough or sneeze (the main way the virus is transmitted)
  • the case maintained their ‘bubble’ beyond essential travel as an essential worker, during the Alert Level 4 lockdown restrictions.