Stuff Digital Edition

Canterbury holds its breath

Amber Allott, Steven Walton and Wei S hao

Christchurch waits to find out whether it has its first Omicron case after the confirmation of four new cases of Covid-19 in the community.

Three of the four cases arrived on flights from Auckland and Wellington on Monday, and Christchurch Airport was yesterday identified as a location of interest in relation to them.

Two of the people involved are from the same household.

As Christchurch gets to grips with the potential arrival of Omicron, Ballantynes department store in the central city announced it was closing until Monday morning – cancelling its premises sale this weekend, though it remains online – out of ‘‘an abundance of caution’’.

The airport was visited twice on Monday, between 9.10am and 9.40am, and between 5pm and 5.30pm.

Two people arrived from Wellington in the morning on Jetstar flight JQ287 from Wellington, and one in the evening on Jetstar flight JQ237 from Auckland.

Wellington Airport’s domestic terminal and its Jetstar check-in area were both locations of interest from 6.30 to 9.40am on Monday, which covered the time flight JQ287 departed.

The Auckland airport, however, is not yet listed as a location of interest at the time flight JQ237 departed. Anyone who was at Christchurch Airport at the times of the flight arrivals was advised to self-monitor for Covid-19 symptoms and only get a test if symptoms develop.

The airport was told by the Ministry of Health no action was required, as it was classified as a casual contact location.

‘‘This is not unexpected given Omicron is spreading in the community and people continue to travel,’’ a spokeswoman said, adding that the airport followed strict health guidelines.

‘‘Our teams are well prepared and equipped for this.’’

It is not yet confirmed which variant these new cases are linked to, but last night a Ministry of Health spokesman said there was not yet any evidence that they are linked to other known Omicron cases, and that they remain under investigation.

The new community cases, the first in Canterbury since January 13, were not reported in time to be included in yesterday’s official count of Covid-19 cases, so will be included in today’s case numbers, the ministry said.

Earlier in the day, Queenstown Airport and the Hotel St Moritz Queenstown were linked to a suspected Omicron case by the Ministry of Health.

There were 45 new community Covid-19 cases yesterday and 90 cases of Covid-19 either confirmed as Omicron variant or have been linked to a previously reported Omicron case in total to date – an increase of 34 from Wednesday.

The new cases, both Omicron and Delta, were in Auckland (22), Waikato (two), Bay of Plenty (three), Lakes (seven), Taranaki (one), Hawke’s Bay (eight) and Nelson Marlborough (two).

Canterbury, like the rest of the country, is already in the red setting of the Government’s traffic light system for dealing with Covid-19, which restricts numbers at gatherings and enforces strict rules on social distancing and mask wearing.

Dr Helen Skinner, the senior officer responsible for Covid-19 response at the Canterbury District Health Board, said there had been ‘‘considerable preparatory work’’ to manage Covid-19 cases in the region.

Modelling by the health board of an Omicron outbreak has shown that at its peak, Canterbury could get up to 4000 new cases of Omicron a day, have 110 Covid-19 hospitalisations, and be without up to 20 per cent of the health workforce in a worst-case scenario.

Some 97.2 per cent of the health board population have had two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, while 123,648 Cantabrians have had a booster shot – about 63 per cent of those currently eligible. Some 11,535 paediatric doses have also been delivered.

Of Canterbury’s Ma¯ ori population, 90 per cent are fully vaccinated, as are 96 per cent of Pasifika people.

Since the country moved to the red traffic light setting at midnight on Sunday, vaccination clinics in Canterbury have seen ‘‘a marked surge’’ of people wanting a booster.

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2022-01-28T08:00:00.0000000Z

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