Wellington, New Zealand – The first case of a New Zealand coronavirus in the community for more than two months has been identified as the most contagious South African variant, prompting Australia to suspend quarantined travel from the neighboring country for at least 72 hours.
A 56-year-old New Zealander, who recently returned from Europe, tested positive for the infectious strain on Saturday, ten days after completing her two mandatory weeks off.
New Zealand has been highly praised for its treatment of the pandemic, with only 25 deaths from 1,927 confirmed virus cases in a population of five million.
The latest case is New Zealand’s first in the community since mid-November and has been classified as a more transmissible strain and possibly resistant to COVID-19 vaccines is currently being deployed around the world.
CBS News
“The strain of the infection is the South African variant and the source of the infection is likely to be a returned mate,” Health Minister Chris Hipkins said.
Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt said it was a case of “major concern” and that the possibility of transmission increased his government’s suspension of its “travel bubble” with New Zealand for a minimum of 72 hours.
“This will be done with great caution, while more is known about the event and the case,” he told reporters in Canberra.
“Changes take effect immediately.”
Hunt urged New Zealanders with a scheduled flight to Australia over the next three days to “reconsider their need to travel,” as they will have to enter hotel quarantine, like other international arrivals, for up to 14 days on arrival.
The woman is believed to have been infected during her forties by a person on the same floor of the hotel who tested positive two days before the woman left.
Peter Meecham / AP
The 56-year-old traveled through the Northland region near Auckland after being released from her quarantine and showed symptoms for several days before being tested.
Two people close to her, including her husband, have since returned negative evidence and New Zealand’s director general of health, Ashley Bloomfield, said they were likely to avoid contracting the disease due to the type of infection.
“He didn’t talk about respiratory symptoms, but he had more muscle aches, so maybe he didn’t share or spread the virus much,” he said.
“I don’t think it’s peculiar to this variant, it’s how it was expressed in this woman.”
The World Health Organization has said there is no clear evidence that the South African variant leads to more serious disease or a higher mortality rate, but researchers at the country’s main government laboratory have told CBS News that it seems highly resistant to antibodies created by a previous infection. with the original strain of coronavirus.
This fuels fears that it may be resistant to current vaccines, which rely on antibodies to prevent serious infections with the disease.
Another strain of coronavirus, first detected in the south of England and now spreading much faster around the world than is thought to be the South African variant, can be more lethal, the British Prime Minister said on Friday.