There are 41 new cases identified in the community on Tuesday and a new vaccination record has been set
Of the new 41 community cases announced today, 38 are in Auckland and three are in Wellington – in the case of those in the capital they’re all close contacts of existing cases.
That takes the total to 148 positive community cases - 137 are in Auckland and 11 in Wellington - on day seven of Level 4 lockdown.
Of these, 89 are linked to the Auckland outbreak and the remaining 59 are still to be linked but Director-General of Health Doctor Ashley Bloomfield said the vast majority are “a household or other close contact or were at a location of interest’’.
All of these people have been transferred to quarantine.
There are eight people in hospital with Covid – none of them are in intensive care.
Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson is fronting Tuesday’s press conference with Bloomfield and announced New Zealand’s “best day ever for vaccinations” with 63,333 doses administered on Monday.
This is the first time more than 60,000 vaccinations have been done in one day.
The locations of interest connected to the Auckland cluster continues to grow with an additional 100 identified on Tuesday, making the total number across the country more than 400.
Bloomfield says testing remains a priority “and the waits are getting less’’.
There are now 22 community testing centres across Auckland, and a further 11 open in Wellington.
Regarding wastewater testing there are no unexpected locations, Wellington and Auckland continue to test positive where there are cases.
Ongoing source investigation
The Crowne Plaza has been identified as the place where Delta most likely entered the community.
But while officials know an infected person entered the facility on August 7 before being transferred to the Jet Park Isolation Facility and then on to Middlemore Hospital, exactly how Delta hit the streets remains a puzzle.
Police have now located the two remaining passersby spotted on CCTV who used a thoroughfare running adjacent to the entrance to the MIQ facility as the infected person was being admitted.
Four other pedestrians have already been identified, contacted and tested, with three having returned a negative test and one in process.
However, a vaccination station remains in use within spitting distance of the very spot officials are investigating.
On Tuesday Bloomfield said he trusted the health experts running the vaccination centre to have done the appropriate checks to make sure the centre is safe.
