MINISTRY OF HEALTH UPDATE
October 9, 2021
There are 34 new community cases today, of which 23 have already been linked to the outbreak (of which 11 are household contacts) and 11 are still being investigated to determine how they are linked. All the new Waikato cases are linked to the initial Hamilton East case.
| Cases | |
| Number of new community cases | 34 |
| Number of new cases identified at the border | Two |
| Location of new community cases | Auckland (31) Waikato (3) |
| Location of community cases (total) | Auckland 1482 (1,123 of whom have recovered); Waikato 28; Wellington 17 (all of whom have recovered) |
| Number of community cases (total) | 1527 (in current community outbreak) |
| Cases infectious in the community | 31 of yesterday’s cases have exposure events (74%) |
| Cases in isolation throughout the period they were infectious | 9 of yesterday’s cases (21%) |
| Cases epidemiologically linked | 23 of today’s 34 cases |
| Cases to be epidemiologically linked | 11 of today’s 34 cases. Interviews are ongoing to determine how they’re linked |
| Cases epidemiologically linked (total) | 1470 (in the current cluster) (30 unlinked from the past 14 days) |
| Number of sub-clusters | 16 epidemiologically linked sub-clusters. Of these, six are active, one is contained and nine are dormant. There are 14 epidemiologically unlinked sub-clusters. Of these, five are active, none are contained and nine are dormant. |
| Cases in hospital | 26 (total): North Shore (3); Middlemore (13); Auckland (8); Waikato Base Hospital (1); Palmerston North (1) |
| Cases in ICU or HDU | Seven |
| Confirmed cases (total) | 4205 since pandemic began |
| Historical cases, since 1 Jan 2021 (total) | 166 out of 2,389 since 1 Jan 2021 |
| Contacts | |
| Number of active contacts being managed (total): | 1,877 |
| Percentage who have received an outbound call from contact tracers (to confirm testing and isolation requirements) | 79% |
| Percentage with at least one test result | 71% |
| Locations of interest | |
| Locations of interest (total) | 267 (as at 10am 8 October) |
| Tests | |
| Number of tests (total) | 3,566,818 |
| Number of tests total (last 24 hours) | 23,735 |
| Tests processed in Auckland (last 24 hours) | 10,568 |
| Tests rolling average (last 7 days) | 21,039 |
| Testing centres in Auckland | 20 |
| Wastewater | |
| Wastewater detections | No unexpected detections in the last 24 hours, new detections in Hamilton and Palmerston North – both on 6+7 October |
| Covid-19 vaccine update | |
| Vaccines administered to date (total) | 5,707,661; 1st doses: 3,419,807; 2nd doses: 2,287,854 |
| Vaccines administered yesterday (total) | 85,757; 1st doses: 18,568; 2nd doses: 67,189. This is the highest number of second doses to date |
| Mâori | 1st doses: 340,851; 2nd doses: 204,626. Today’s 10,283 doses for Mâori is the highest to date |
| Pacific Peoples | 1st doses: 216,351; 2nd doses: 139,691 |
| Vaccines administered to Auckland residents to date (total) | 2,076,286: 1st doses: 1,232,233 (86%); 2nd doses: 844,053 (59%) |
| Vaccines administered to Auckland residents yesterday (total) | 32,051: 1st doses: 5,217; 2nd doses: 26,834 |
| NZ COVID-19 tracer | |
| Registered users (total) | 3,284,505 |
| Poster scans (total) | 417,259,274 |
| Manual diary entries (total) | 17,870,817 |
| Poster scans in 24 hours to midday yesterday | 2,593,918 |
New cases identified at the border
| Arrival date | From | Via | Positive test day/reason | Managed isolation/quarantine location |
| 6 October | India | Serbia, UAE, Malaysia | Day 14 / contact of a case | Auckland |
The second case at the border was already reported on 16 September. The case was then reclassified as under investigation and was today confirmed as a case.
White Sunday
The Ministry of Health is asking that the Tuvalu, Samoa and Tokelau communities, particularly in Auckland, please use online virtual services or to keep their services within approved bubble sizes when celebrating White Sunday or Lotu Tamaiti tomorrow.
Locations of interest
Locations of interest (total): 267 (as at 10am 9 October).
Waikato update
The new cases in Waikato are linked and is a contact of an existing case. Interviews are continuing to determine any further contacts or locations of interest.
There continues to be a strong response to calls for testing in Waikato with 5000 swabs taken yesterday. There are pop up testing sites operating today at Claudelands, Te Rapa, Karapiro, Raglan and Kawhia. The existing testing centre at Founders Theatre is also open.
Further details on exact locations and hours of testing sites are available on the Healthpoint and Waikato DHB sites.
The Ministry of Health urges anyone in the Waikato with any symptoms that could be Covid-19 to get a test.
Waikato turned out in record numbers yesterday to get vaccinated with 9,946 doses given, with large increases seen in rural areas. 78.2% of people in the Waikato have now received their first dose and 52.6% are fully vaccinated. A big thank you to everyone who came forward.
Alert levels for the whole of the Waikato will be reviewed again on Monday.
Update on Auckland case who travelled to Northland
The case reported October 7, who recently travelled to Northland, remains in an Auckland quarantine facility.
A second person, who is thought to have travelled with this case, has not yet been able to be contacted.
The case was under investigation after returning a weak positive result from a test in Whangarei earlier this week and Friday returned a positive test result in Auckland.
Public health staff continue to work closely with the case to determine any locations of interest or exposure events associated with the case. Public Health staff are also working closely with Police to identify possible locations or areas of interest.
As these become available they will be added to the Ministry’s website as quickly as possible. We ask people to check these regularly, especially if you have visited, or live in Auckland, Waikato or Northland.
Anyone in Northland who is symptomatic or has visited a location of interest or been in an area of interest at the times specified should get tested and isolate until they receive the result.
Northland testing centres
Testing stations are open at six locations across the region. These are:
Whangarei – Rock and Roll car park, Pohe Island (9am – 4.30pm), Kamo, 20 Winger Crescent (9am – 4.30pm).
Moerewa – Simpson Park (9am – 1pm).
Kaikohe – Lindvart Park Pavillion, Penne Crescent (10am – 2pm).
Kerikeri – 1 Sammaree Place (9am-4.30pm)
Kaitaia – Kaitaia Hospital, 29 Redan Road (9am-4pm)
Bookings are not required for any of the sites. Over the last 24 hours to 8am, 672 tests were taken across Northland.
Northland vaccination
Northland DHB, local iwi and providers are are working hard to ensure as many Northlanders are vaccinated as possible.
Seven clinics are open for vaccinations today, at Kaitaia, Whangarei, Dargaville, Kerekere, Kaikohe, and Moerewa.
As at 6am this morning, 184,201 doses administered across Northland, comprising 108,885 first doses and 75,316 second doses.
Yesterday, 834 first doses and 1529 second doses were administered, totalling 2363 doses across Northland.
There’s also a drive-thru site operating in Whanagrei today, which vaccinated 120 people in the first hour.
MidCentral testing and vaccination centres
MidCentral DHB has conducted moreThe DHB’s busiest days were Sunday 3 Oct and Monday 4 Oct.
Vaccination numbers have doubled with more than 10,000 so far this week and the team on track to deliver more than 12,000 by the end of the week.
Vaccination and testing centres available in the MidCentral rohe for the weekend are:
Saturday 9 October
The Plaza pop-up clinic, Palmerston North
Manfeild drive-through clinic, Feilding
Donnelly Park drive-through clinic, Levin
Ngâti Kahungunu ki Tâmiki nui a Rua drive-through clinic Dannevirke Showgrounds
Sunday October 10
Manfeild drive-through clinic, Feilding
Central Energy Trust Arena, Palmerston North
Testing centre
575 Main St Palmerston North drive through.
Testing and vaccinations
The two best tools we have in the continued fight against Covid-19 are testing and vaccinations – the numbers for both continue to be high.
The Ministry of Health urges anyone who has symptoms, no matter how mild, to please get tested.
Next update
The Ministry’s updates over the weekend will be via media releases unless there are any significant developments.
At this stage, the next press conference is scheduled for Monday, October 11.
