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Government officials consider risk posed by two Covid-19 cases in Christchurch ahead of 1pm update

Public Policy / news
Government officials consider risk posed by two Covid-19 cases in Christchurch ahead of 1pm update

Government officials are assessing the risk two people with Covid-19 in Christchurch pose to the region, ahead of Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins providing an update at 1pm. 

A snap lockdown for Christchurch could be on the cards. 

The Ministry of Health was last night notified of two positive Covid-19 cases in Christchurch from the same household.

One member of the household had recently returned to Christchurch from Auckland. Hipkins told RNZ they returned a negative test result prior to travelling, as required, but later tested positive.

Both individuals are unvaccinated and aren't active users of the tracer app.

The local public health unit is gathering information from the cases to identify close contacts and exposure events, including any locations of interest.

Hipkins told RNZ, "My understanding is that they've been unwell for a while so they could have been symptomatic and infectious for a period of time whilst back in Christchurch and so that's one of the things that the contact tracers will be working on as a as a top priority this morning - to identify exactly what the nature of the potential exposure in Christchurch is."

Of those eligible for the vaccine, 89% covered by the Canterbury District Health Board have received the first dose, while 68% have received the second dose. 

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