Coronavirus detainees set for release from quarantine at Whangaparaoa

Tuesday, 18 February 2020

Passengers from the Air NZ charter flight from Wuhan to Auckland are taken from the airport to quarantine in Whangaparaoa.

A group of 157 people quarantined at Whangaparaoa due to the coronavirus outbreak in China are set to be released on Wednesday.

The evacuees will be allowed to leave the military facility where they have spent two weeks since arriving on February 5.

They arrived at the base after landing at Auckland International Airport on a special flight from the Chinese city of Wuhan.

Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield has confirmed the group will be released from the facility on Wednesday, but it is still unclear what time they will be allowed to leave.

* Coronavirus: Inside the Whangaparāoa facility where evacuees will be sent

The NZDF site at Whangaparaoa used to quarantine the 157 people who flew from the Chinese city of Wuhan on February 5 following the outbreak of coronavirus.

* Coronavirus: Whangaparāoa residents want more info on quarantine at NZDF site

* Coronavirus: Quarantined Kiwis to be housed at 'very flash' Navy training base**

Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield's coronavirus update on February 17.

'As you know we've had 157 people there, 59 non-New Zealanders and 98 New Zealanders,' Bloomfield said at a press conference by on Monday. 'Our planning is well underway for those people to be integrated back into the community here in New Zealand and for those people from overseas for arrangements to be made to repatriate them.'

Under the ministry's guidelines they were due to be quarantined for 14 days to cover the incubation period of the virus, unless anyone at the site tested positive for coronavirus and their stay would then be extended.

The ministry said the facility had been chosen because of its size and location and the fact it had its own medical facilities. The evacuees have received daily medical checks while in isolation, but none of the people in the containment centre have tested positive for coronavirus.

The ministry has also been asking people who have travelled through China since February 2 following the coronavirus outbreak to self isolate themselves for 14 days and register by calling the Healthline free phone number 0800 358 5453.

According to Bloomfield calls to the Ministry of Health-funded helpline have surged since it was launched this month. Blomfield said as of midnight on Sunday 4,400 people had registered through the new service.

'I think this is remarkable because all of these people have taken seriously the request and expectation that they self isolate,' he said.

But Bloomfield said there hadn't been any confirmed cases of coronavirus in New Zealand.

According to the Ministry of Health the coronavirus is part of a large group of viruses which includes the common cold, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). In January 2020, officials identified a new coronavirus called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2, formerly known as 2019-nCoV). The disease caused by this new virus has been named COVID-19.

It said while it doesn't yet know it is transmitted to people, it's likely that it comes from an animal. A live animal market in Wuhan is suspected as the original source of the virus, but that hasn't been confirmed. While there is evidence that it can spread from person to person in the community and in health care settings.