Summarised by Centrist
Health NZ has rolled out mass contact tracing, high-octane messaging via bulk texts, emails and phone calls to “stamp out” a measles outbreak that totals 10 cases nationwide – one imported, nine local.
Seven of the nine local cases trace back to a Bluebridge ferry crossing on 3 October. Officials have named locations of interest across Auckland, Northland, Manawatū-Whanganui, Taranaki, Nelson–Marlborough and Tasman, with regional counts now at Northland 1, Auckland 2, Taranaki 1, Manawatū 2, Nelson 1, Wellington 3.
Schools are the new focal point. “Hundreds” at Wellington College have been told they’re close contacts, and Wellington Girls’ College has identified about 60 students and four staff after a confirmed case was on campus on 13 October between 8:45 am and midday. With “limited resources,” authorities say not everyone has been reached yet, but urge anyone with cold-like symptoms to call Healthline “urgently.”
Read more over at The NZ Herald and RNZ
Image: Cynthia S. Goldsmith
