New Zealand stays locked down
The whole of New Zealand will remain in level-four lockdown until midnight on August 24 with cabinet meeting the day before to determine what the next steps to be taken will be.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says it is too soon to draw any “firm conclusions” on the extent on the outbreak of the delta variant of Covid-19.
She says the country is in a “reasonable position” at this stage, but it’s still early days and there are still many unknowns.
The good news is that all cases so far are linked, which helps build a picture of the edges of the cluster. However, the spread of virus among contacts is still unknown and many contacts are still waiting to be tested.
“We still need to be very vigilant,” warns Ardern. “There are hundreds of people who were at locations of interest who live outside of Auckland, some in the South Island. We just don't quite know the full scale of this delta outbreak.”
There were 11 new cases of Covid-19 reported in the community by the afternoon of August 20, including three in Wellington.
Ministry of Health (MoH) reports there are now 31 cases associated with the current Auckland community outbreak.
“All cases have or are being transferred safely to managed isolation, under strict infection prevention and control procedures, including the use of full PPE,” it says.
The three cases in Wellington had recently travelled to Auckland where they visited a location of interest.
The 11 new community cases include three separate cases in family bubbles with previously reported cases, while two are also in a family bubble together.
“Public-health officials are currently conducting interviews to establish how the new cases were infected and to determine further details of their movements,” adds the MoH. “We will continue to release this information as it becomes available."
It also says the international Air NZ crew member reported on August 19 has now been confirmed as a border-related case, and not linked to the Auckland outbreak – based on the results of whole genome sequencing – while there are also two new cases in managed isolation.
About 1,200 individual contacts of the community cases have been identified. As revealed by Autofile Online, G-Mana Wholesale Autos in Otahuhu, south Auckland, was visited by someone who has tested positive for the virus between 3.30pm and 3.50pm on August 14.
“Most of these contacts are in the Auckland and Waikato regions, with a proportion located in other areas throughout the rest of North Island and South Island,” says the MoH.
“As of 9am on August 20, 642 contacts were in the Auckland and Waikato regions, 149 contacts were located throughout the rest of New Zealand and the location of the remaining contacts is being confirmed. The total number is expected to increase as more locations of interest are identified.”
