CHECKPOINT/RNZ
A Covid-19 wastewater testing pilot s being rolled out around the country as a safety net for catching the virus in the community. How is wastewater sampled? Every day, about 400 million litres of wastewater are collected and treated in Auckland, across 7999 kilometres of wastewater pipes, 518 wastewater stations, 18 treatment plants and 167,264 maintenance holes. Wastewater testing is not new – ESR routinely tests wastewater for viruses and illicit drugs, such as MDMA and cocaine. There are two ways to take wastewater samples, says Dr Joanne Hewitt, head of ESR s environmental virology laboratory: automatic composite samples and grab samples. Automatic composite sampling – where a pump automatically collects a small volume of wastewater every 15 minutes over 24 hours – is the preferred method.
Camaraderie of Jet Park staff overcomes stigma
Drew Leafa, the Operations Manager at Jet Park managed quarantine facility in Māngere, once worked for four years at a law firm before joining the hotel as a duty manager.
Photo: Google Maps
Leafa said within weeks of starting at Jet Park, the news of Covid-19 broke and operations at the hotel changed dramatically. He said , which was scary for the staff because of the unknown, but he said he was up for the challenge. I just jumped right into it and decided that this was something I wanted to help out in.
No new Covid-19 cases in the community; 21 MIT students being sought
(Photo / NZ Herald)
There are no new cases of Covid-19 in the community today.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and director general of health Ashley Bloomfield will hold a press conference at 3pm after a Cabinet meeting.
The last community case reported is Case O which is a household contact of Cases I, J, K and L who all are in the Auckland quarantine facility. Case O was reported last night.
They were moved to the Jetpark Hotel as a precaution on February 23 so were in quarantine during their infectious period which means there is no risk of spread in the community.