Isolation

Samoa was the last place they docked, on 1 March.

This was announced by the Prime Minister in an interview with Government owned newspaper Savali over the weekend.

She said the American Samoa Government relayed this information to Samoa, after the crew members arrived in the US territory and had tested positive.

The Prime Minister explained that crew members from cargo vessels normally do not interact with front-liners, except for health workers.

Ardern and Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro were on flight NZ8273 from Kerikeri to Auckland on 22 January. Someone who tested positive for Covid-19 was on the flight which added to the Ministry of Health's website as a location of interest last night.

The result of whole genome sequencing for the case is expected today, but it is likely to be Omicron, a media statement from the prime minister's office said last night.

Ardern and Dame Cindy were in Northland undertaking advance filming at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds for the Waitangi Day broadcast.

Chairman of the committee, Agafili Shem Leo, says the man had taken a taxi into town, visited his family, a wholesale store, and a telephone company before being apprehended by police at a Western Union outlet.

The man's entire family have now been placed in quarantine along with others identified mainly through video surveillance footage.

Agafili says the committee has advised the government to delay planned repatriation flights as the quarantine sites are filling out with locals who have been in contact with the escapee.

All the South Africa players are self isolating after close contact with De Jager and will remain cloistered in their hotel rooms until a new round of tests are conducted, SA Rugby said.

The second such incident in a week in the Springbok camp could force a cancellation of the second test, scheduled for Johannesburg's Ellis Park on Friday.

Guardian journalist Elle Hunt says people have strung up lights and decorations, and a wreath competition run by the facility is seeing inventive recycling of meal bags.

With the unpleasantness of her day-three Covid-19 test over Hunt was looking forward to Christmas lunch - of which there were an impressive number of options.

"After much consideration I went for the eye fillet carvery and then spent the next couple of days thinking about whether I had made the wrong choice.

"There [was] also turkey, there was a fish option."