Healths officials are racing to trace the movements and close contacts of visitor who toured New Zealand capital last weekend

The Australian visitor who had coronavirus visited Wellington from Sydney last weekend. The New Zealand capital faces a potential lockdown. Photograph: Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images

 

New Zealand is racing to track the in-country movements of a tourist with Covid-19 who tested positive on their return to Australia, with the possibility of a lockdown of the capital, Wellington, not ruled out.

The traveller spent a weekend visiting Wellington from Sydney, and visited a number of sites around the city, including popular tourism spot Te Papa, the national museum. At this stage, it is assumed they caught coronavirus in Sydney before travelling.

Four close contacts have already been identified and are isolating, the ministry of health said.

New Zealand officials have released an initial list of six locations of interest in Wellington, and those who have visited them at the listed times are being told to get tested and self-isolate. So far they include a pub, a pharmacy, a hotel, and the museum, all in the inner city.

Officials have not ruled out a possible lockdown for the city if community cases emerge, or other measures including mask mandates and restrictions on public gathering.