Passengers on four flights to Christchurch last week are close contacts of a positive Covid case. 

Flights NZ8847 (1.20–2.20pm) and NZ8853 (5.30–6.30pm) from Nelson to Christchurch on January 24, as well as JQ287 (8.20–9.10am) from Wellington and NZ5771 (6.25–8am) from Napier, have all been added to the locations of interest list. 

People who visited Christchurch Airport on Monday from 8–9am, 9.10-9.40am and 5–5.30pm and on Wednesday from 4.30–5.30pm are also contacts but are not considered close contacts. 

They should self-isolate and test immediately. Further isolation and testing requirements will be provided by Public Health. 

It follows the announcement that Omicron has made its way to Christchurch. Two of the four confirmed cases last week have been identified as the variant. 

The first cases of Omicron in the South Island were discovered in the Nelson area, with the outbreak reaching a total of nine people. 

Passengers on flights NZ8852 (January 24) and NZ8852 (January 26) from Nelson to Christchurch are considered close contacts. Flights NZ8087 and NZ8087 from Auckland to the city have also been included as locations of interest. 

Any passengers need to self-isolate, test immediately and again on day 5 after they were potentially exposed. 

And Queenstown is also in the firing line, with new locations of interest added last week. 

Two places were visited by a suspected Omicron case who travelled to the city from Auckland. 

The Hotel St Moritz and Queenstown Airport were added as locations of interest on January 22. 

People at the hotel on that day between 12am on Friday and 12pm on Saturday should self-monitor for Covid symptoms for 10 days after potentially being exposed, and if symptoms start to show, get tested and stay home until a negative test result returns. 

There were no new cases of Covid-19 to report in the South Island today. 

- by Devon Bolger, NZ Herald