And thank you for including our sign language interpreter

in your picture.

So as you may be aware, the second case of COVID-19

is confirmed in a New Zealand citizen.

This is a woman in her 30s recently returned to Auckland

from northern Italy.

The results of the tests were formally

notified to the ministry at about 6 o'clock last evening.

At that point, health authorities

began with, of course, notifying the woman and her family

and initiating a range of processes,

in particular contact tracing.

So although we have our second case of COVID-19,

what I can say is with continued vigilance,

the chance of widespread community outbreak

is expected to remain low.

So the woman confirmed with COVID-19

is in self-isolation in her home with appropriate clinical

support from public health and district health board staff.

Self-isolation at home is well recognized by the World Health

Organization as an appropriate response for people

with mild to moderate symptoms.

She does not require hospital-level care.

The woman's immediate household contacts

are with her in self-isolation as a precautionary measure.

I should say that the woman's partner has also displayed

symptoms and is being tested.

Public health officials last night

began tracing the woman's other close and casual contacts

to ensure appropriate protection measures are in place.

Now the flight on which the woman returned to New Zealand

was from Singapore to Auckland.

This was an Air New Zealand flight on the 25th of February.

It was flight NZ0283 Singapore to Auckland.

So in addition to proactive contact tracing

of close contacts on this flight by public health staff,

contact will also be made with everyone

on the flight to ensure they have relevant information.

And a reminder-- close contacts on a flight

are the people who were in the same row as the case, two rows

in front, and two rows behind.

Anyone who was on this flight and is concerned or would

like information should contact the Healthline number

0800-358-5453.

The woman who has now tested positive for coronavirus

also took two domestic flights on the 2nd of March Air New

Zealand flight NZ5013 Auckland to Palmerston North

and, on the same day, the 2nd of March NZ8114 Palmerston

North to Auckland.

So in addition to proactive tracing

of close contacts on that flight,

or those two flights by public health staff,

contact will also be made for everyone

on the flight to provide relevant information.

And we are working very closely with Air New Zealand

to get in touch with the people who were on those two flights

as well as the international flight, which as I said,

was also an Air New Zealand flight.

Once again, a reminder for all of those flights--

close contacts are people who were

in the same row as the case and the two rows in front

and two behind.

Anyone concerned who was on the two domestic flights

is welcome to also get in touch with Healthline 0800-358-5453.

Contact is also being made with the two medical centers where

the woman sought advice and treatment to determine if there

is any risk to staff or other people

who may have been at the center at that time.

This is a standard part of contact tracing.

And appropriate contact tracing and action

will be taken as required by the public health unit.

Two schools have also been notified

about the positive test as there as a family member

at each of those schools.

After careful consideration, and in discussion

with the family and the schools, we

are telling you that those schools are Westlake Boys

and Westlake Girls High Schools.

The family members-- and this is very important, please--

the family members who attend these schools

are not symptomatic and are now at home in isolation.

They did not travel to Italy.

They are both well.

And they are both being monitored.

The ministries of education and health

will work together to provide the schools

with appropriate advice and support.

The ministries also want to emphasize,

and I will as well, that contacts

of [INAUDIBLE] contacts are not at risk,

recalling neither of these two family members are symptomatic.

And I do want to quote from the comments in the speech

from the director general of the World Health Organization

overnight, in which he compared COVID-19 with influenza.

And this is very important.

Both COVID-19 and influenza cause respiratory disease

and spread in the same way via small droplets of fluid

from the nose and the mouth of someone who is sick.

However, there are some important differences

between the two.

First, COVID-19 does not transmit

as efficiently as influenza from the data we have so far.

With influenza, people who are infected, but not yet sick,

are major drivers of transmission,

which does not appear to be the case for COVID-19.

And that's very pertinent to this particular situation.

Evidence from China is that only 1% of reported cases

do not have symptoms.

And most of those cases develop symptoms within two days.

Just to reiterate, contacts of contacts are not at risk.

In closing, I want to say that this is a Kiwi family that

has been affected by a virus that is

part of a worldwide outbreak.

What they need is support and understanding.

And our task is to ensure they have all the support

and health care they need.

And just a reminder to anybody who

has traveled to China, or Iran, northern Italy, and South

Korea--

in the last 14 days, they should be in self-isolation

and registered with Healthline.

Thank you very much.

And I'm open to questions.

[INAUDIBLE] worried are you that this woman

traveled so far and wide in New Zealand carrying all this.

I am interested in identifying all

the close and casual contexts and ensuring

that we put in place the public health measures.

What I should say is that the immediate circle of family

and close friends, who have been followed up with public health

and are now in self isolation, is small.

The woman has not been feeling well.

Yes, she traveled to Palmerston North and back.

And that is the focus of our-- if it's a contact tracing

on those flights.

However, this is exactly the sort

of contact tracing we would expect to do

and are geared up to do and is well underway now.

[INAUDIBLE] day-to-day movements,

like supermarkets, dairies.

Are you tracing that back?

Or are you [INAUDIBLE].

I don't have detail.

What I can say is that she has been feeling unwell

and has been largely at home and because she

has been feeling unwell.

So just to clarify, is the Ministry

of Health not aware where else this woman has

been other than those domestic flights and those [INAUDIBLE]

[? centers? ?] You don't know if she had been shopping

[INAUDIBLE] anywhere else?

The public health unit was in contact

from early on last evening and has been in contact

a number of times since.

And they have a detailed understanding

of the movements of the case.

And they will be assessing the risk of

and ensuring that any potential for close or casual contacts

is appropriately traced.

I don't have the detail.

But the people who are doing that work

in regional public health service do have their detail.

Was this woman unwell prior to coming to New Zealand

or showed any symptoms at all on their flights

from Italy [INAUDIBLE] and New Zealand?

She developed symptoms once she had arrived in New Zealand.

OK, so she had no apparent symptoms [INAUDIBLE]..

Correct.

Had her partner traveled to Italy as well?

Yes, her partner had been with her initially as well.

[INAUDIBLE]

But are you worried [INAUDIBLE]?

Are you worried about [INAUDIBLE]..

Oh, I'm not worried.

What I am concerned is that we get on

and do the appropriate contact tracing and put in place

the appropriate public health measures.

In terms of the schools, anyone else

being isolated or being monitored

between teachers, [INAUDIBLE],, other peoples [INAUDIBLE]??

No, just to reiterate, the children

who attend each of those schools are not symptomatic.

And they are now in self-isolation at home.

Given that there's person-to-person contraction

in now Australia.

Are you saying that that's not possible with [INAUDIBLE]??

Yes, it is possible.

And in fact, interestingly, some of you

may have seen the report that WHO did on the Joint Mission,

the nine-day joint mission, that WHO

did to China between the 16th and 24th of February.

And there's a couple of interesting bits of--

well, there's a lot of interesting information.

And I can read it to you.

One of the important points in that is in China,

human-to-human transmission of COVID-19 virus

is largely occurring in families.

Hence, of course, our isolation of the families.

However, another very relevant point

here is that data on individuals 18 years and under

suggest there is a relatively low attack rate in this age

group--

2.4% of all reported cases.

Now realize it's quite a few numbers to get.

But also even in those families where there is transmission,

it's less than 10% of family members who then become

symptomatic or get the virus.

And that was found through this exhaustive look at the data

from China, which, as we know, has

had the outbreak the longest and has

the largest number of cases.

And have you been tracking the partner's movements as well?

[INAUDIBLE]?

Yes, that's right.

There will be absolutely part of the contact tracing.

And what I can say is there's this very, very strong overlap

of the contacts for both the person and their partner.

Just in terms of [INAUDIBLE],, how do you

know [INAUDIBLE] day-to-day [INAUDIBLE] supermarket

[INAUDIBLE] to the [? parts ?] [INAUDIBLE]..

How detailed is it?

Very detailed-- so the Auckland Regional Public Health

Service gets a day-by-day, movement-by-movement

description and then does an assessment of,

in particular, where there is any potential

for close contact.

And I've talked about the settings

that we are actively following up in the first instance--

or the public health unit is-- the flights, of course,

as well as the medical centers that were visited.

Do you [INAUDIBLE] of being in [INAUDIBLE]..

For example, Palmerston North.

Was it for a conference sort of thing or any [INAUDIBLE]..

No, it wasn't.

And as I say, the person's been feeling unwell.

And so they haven't been doing much outdoor activity

outside the house.

Your question is?

[INAUDIBLE]

How many tests did it take to get to this positive result?

So the positive result was on a swab

that was taken by a general practitioner on Monday.

And we got the result like yesterday, Tuesday.

The first test.

That's correct.

Was any consideration given to closing the schools?

No, that's not necessary.