Media Release

Passengers who arrived on Friday 29 January entered Supervised Quarantine and were tested for COVID-19 on arrival. All 54 test results came back negative. With no new community cases confirmed in the NZ COVID update this afternoon, passengers currently in Supervised Quarantine will be released from the facility at 6pm today.

Acting Secretary of Health Bob Williams with the support of Cabinet has confirmed that those passengers departing Auckland tomorrow morning will be entering Supervised Quarantine on arrival in Rarotonga.

It has been almost a year since the relocation of Rarotonga Hospital’s Out-Patients and Emergency Department (OPED) services moved to the Tupapa Community Clinic in March 2020.
Since that time, upgrades to the country’s critical health infrastructure have continued at pace, both on Rarotonga and the Pa Enua.

Although Te Marae Ora has had the ability to test for COVID-19 in-country since May 2020, the ministry has been working towards setting up a PCR lab for several months now.

Health ministry Te Marae Ora has released 10 simple and effective public health measures to help guide the public protect themselves and their families and communities. From this week you will find the attached poster in public spots around the island

I wish to extend our appreciation to the two casual contacts who returned last Friday. What I appreciate most about these two young people, has been their courage to be honest regarding their movements in Auckland in the week prior to travel. Their actions have helped protect the people of the Cook Islands and we must be thankful.

Two arriving passengers were identified as having visited one of the venues that the recently identified COVID-19 case in Auckland had visited. They have been placed in supervised quarantine as a precautionary measure alongside a third passenger who was seated beside one of the casual contacts.