There are 21 new cases of Covid-19 in the current Delta outbreak, while the Government has opened a number of new testing facilities to meet record demand
New Zealand has hit new daily records for both Covid-19 testing and vaccinations amidst the country’s lockdown, with 21 new cases of the Delta variant identified by health officials.
The current cluster has now grown to 51 people, with a number of new pop-up testing centres established to ease snaking queues of anxious Kiwis.
Speaking on Saturday afternoon, director of public health Dr Caroline McElnay said there were 21 new positive cases of Covid-19 – 18 in Auckland, and three in Wellington.
Of the 51 overall cases, 21 had been confirmed as part of the Auckland cluster, but there were strong indications of a link for the vast majority of the remainder still under investigation.
Responding to criticism about the length of time the Ministry of Health was taking to list locations of interest for potential Covid exposures, McElnay said officials were working around the clock to identify people’s movements but had to work carefully and accurately.
“This is a very fast moving situation, and we do need to make sure that not only do we get information quickly, but that it is correct and accurate, and that can take time to confirm.”
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the country had hit two daily records on Friday: the most vaccinations in a single day, at 56,843, and the most Covid-19 tests processed in a single day, at 41,464.
Over 150,000 vaccination bookings had also been made on Friday, Ardern said, praising the strong numbers but saying those levels would need to continue.
“We need to test, test, test to ensure we can get an accurate picture of the perimeter of the virus, and we should also be using this time to increase our vaccination rates.”
While the Government wanted to see high testing rates, those needed to be for three main groups: close contacts of positive cases who had been contacted by public health officials, people who had been at locations of interest on the specific dates and times identified, and those with cold and flu symptoms.
To help manage queues outside testing facilities in Auckland, four new “pop-up” centres had been established overnight, while there were other facilities for close contacts which were not being publicly advertised.
Three new pop-up testing centres in Wellington had also been set up overnight, Ardern said.
On Friday, the Cabinet decided to extend New Zealand’s latest Covid-19 lockdown nationwide until the end of Tuesday at least, with Ardern saying caution is warranted given the remaining unknowns about the Delta cluster.
Ardern said Cabinet had extended alert Level 4 for the full seven-day period, with a Cabinet meeting on Monday to discuss the next steps.
While the country was “in a reasonable position for this stage of the outbreak”, it was still early days and there was much that officials still didn’t know, including how far the virus had spread among the close contacts already identified.
The locations of interest also included bars, schools, church services, and other venues where large numbers of people gathered in close proximity.
There were some people isolating in the South Island due to visiting locations of interest, Ardern said.
