Close contact test results will be crucial to whether Auckland’s level 3 lockdown is extended beyond three days
In an article on The Conversation, academics from UC and UoA explain that moving Auckland to Alert Level 3 is the right thing to do. They examine why close contact test results will be crucial to whether Auckland’s Level 3 lockdown is extended beyond three days.
But it is not a definitive link. Indeed, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced this morning that genome sequencing was not able to link the new infections to any cases we have seen recently in returned travellers.
Worryingly, this leaves the possibility of a more widespread community outbreak.
Even if a connection to the workplace can eventually be established, it may not be a direct human-to-human link. The LSG Sky Chefs worker is not thought to have had face-to-face contact with air crew or international travellers.
This means there may well be other cases in the chain of transmission between the border and the worker, and these cases could have sparked additional community transmission chains.