- New Zealand’s mystery COVID-19 outbreak has spread rapidly, with the country now dealing with 48 active cases
- 30 of these new cases are linked to a family which mysteriously contracted the coronavirus, despite New Zealand being COVID-19-free for 102 days
- The virus has managed to spread to South Waikato, 200 kilometres south of Auckland, with two people there contracting COVID-19
- One of the clusters is also linked to a cold-storage factory, sparking concerns the coronavirus may have travelled into the country on refrigerated freight
- In the meantime, in neighbouring Victoria, 372 new cases of the virus were recorded in the last 24 hours
New Zealand’s mystery COVID-19 outbreak has spread rapidly, with 48 people now testing positive for the virus.
This is despite the country recording 102 days with no community spread, leaving officials puzzled as to how the coronavirus was able to flare up again.
Outbreak
The outbreak began when four members of the same South Auckland family tested positive for COVID-19.
None of the family had been overseas recently, and officials are still trying to work out how they managed to contract the virus.
Since then, tens of thousands of tests have been carried out across New Zealand’s largest city, with dozens more cases of COVID-19 recorded.
Amongst the new cases, two are linked to Tokoroa, a town in the South Waikato which is around 200 kilometres south of Auckland.
It’s believed they’re linked to the original family who tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this week.
There’s also an emerging cluster being seen at a cold storage facility in Auckland, called Americold.
One of the family members from the original mystery outbreak is believed to work at Americold, sparking fears they may have caught coronavirus off imported refrigerated goods.
China has previously reported COVID-19 has been detected in some frozen foods being shipped into the country.
Lockdowns
All of New Zealand has re-entered stage-two lockdown since the new mystery cases were observed, with Auckland in stage-three lockdown.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her Government are meeting today to discuss implementing further lockdowns, in a bid to stop the virus spreading.
In the meantime, in neighbouring Australia, Victoria continues to be overrun with new COVID-19 cases – with 372 new cases recorded today.
Another 14 people also died from the virus overnight — bringing the state’s death toll to almost 300 people.