There are 35 new community cases today – all are in the Auckland region.

Of these cases, 14 have known links to existing cases (including four household contacts) and 21 remain under investigation.

Due to time of reporting, the previously reported case in the Bay of Plenty region is included in the case tally today, however it is understood to be under investigation, after a follow-up test returned a negative result (further details are below). 

Bay of Plenty test result confirmed negative

The Ministry of Health can confirm that a follow-up test, for a person currently in Katikati, in the Bay of Plenty region, returned a negative result.

While the case remains under investigation, the public health risk is deemed low given the person’s vaccination status, regular test history, good use of the NZ COVID Tracer app and rapid contact, testing and isolation of family members, all of whom also returned negative results.

The Ministry would like to thank the individuals involved for their cooperation and Toi Te Ora Public Health for their precautionary approach, taking swift action to ensure public health safety.

North Shore Hospital update

Two staff members have now returned positive results for COVID-19 following a positive case reported yesterday in a patient receiving treatment in the dialysis unit adjacent to North Shore Hospital.

The connection between the three cases is being investigated.

A number of staff have been stood down initially as a precaution, and all those staff who have been tested have returned negative results.

The dialysis unit remains open, with measures in place to manage potential risk to both patients and staff. This includes use of PPE and intensive cleaning between each group of patients and plans to use a mix of rapid PCR and rapid antigen testing for staff prior to them starting their shift.

Auckland City Hospital staff member

Auckland DHB last night informed the Ministry that a fully vaccinated staff member tested positive for COVID-19 over the weekend.

Auckland City Hospital has now identified all contacts of the staff member, to carry out testing onsite for staff and patients.

We have been informed this morning that two further hospital staff members have tested positive. Of the three, two were tested at a community testing site while one was tested as part of routine workplace surveillance.

Initial investigations have shown there are no links to the NICU parent case.

It’s important to note Auckland City Hospital has Infection, Prevention and Control protocols in place and unless you’re contacted by public health staff, patients and whanau who’ve been at the hospital you won’t need to do anything further.

With more than 12,000 staff, the DHB is one of the biggest employers in Auckland so it is not unexpected that there will be staff members who acquire COVID within the community.

Update on Auckland case who travelled to Northland

Whole genome sequencing for the Auckland case who travelled to Northland has been completed on the initial sample, confirming the case is linked to the Auckland outbreak.

Due to sample quality limitations, whole genome sequencing could not link the case to a specific cluster, however resampling has been undertaken and ESR are working to improve the data quality of additional sequencing.

The case remains in an Auckland quarantine facility.

A second person who is thought to have travelled with this case has been contacted but not yet located.  

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 person to determine any locations of interest or exposure events associated with the case. There are currently 21 close contacts associated with this case. The household of the case and travel companion are included in this number.

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 should remain vigilant for symptoms, particularly anyone who 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 and vaccination centres

In Northland, health officials are pleased with the weekend’s testing numbers, with 738 tests carried out yesterday. Over the past four days, nearly 3,000 tests (2,985) have been undertaken.

Today there are five testing sites available across the region:

Whangarei – Rock and Roll car park, Pohe Island (9am–4pm); Kamo, 20 Winger Crescent (9am –4pm)
Dargaville – Dargaville Hospital (9am-4pm)
Kerikeri – 1 Sammaree Place (9am-4pm)
Kaitaia – Kaitaia Hospital, 29 Redan Road (9am-4pm)  

Northland DHB, local iwi and providers are also working hard to ensure as many Northlanders are vaccinated as possible.

Four clinics are open for vaccinations today at Kaitaia, Whangarei, Dargaville, and Kerikeri.

Kaitaia – The Old Warehouse Building, 11 Matthews Ave (10am-5pm)
Whangarei – Northland Events Centre (10am-5pm)
Dargaville - 22a Normanby St (11am-6pm)
Kerikeri – 1 Sammaree Place (9am-4pm)

Yesterday, 459 first doses and 630 second doses were administered, totalling 1,089 doses across Northland.

To date, 188,382 doses have been administered across Northland, comprising 110,446 first doses and 77,936 second doses.

Waikato update

There are no new community cases to report in Waikato today, with all 31 existing cases linked to the original index case in the region.

Yesterday across the region, 1,212 swabs were taken, and 3,292 vaccinations administered.

There are three pop-up testing centres operating today at Claudelands Event Centre, Te Kohao Health in Hamilton East, and one at Raglan, as well as the existing testing centre at Founders Theatre.

Further details on exact locations and hours of testing sites are available on the Healthpoint and Waikato DHB sites.  

MidCentral case update

A previously reported case, in an individual from Auckland, who tested positive in Palmerston North and who had been in isolation on the hospital grounds was transferred on Friday (8 October) to Palmerston North Hospital and is currently receiving treatment.

The Ministry understands from MidCentral DHB the patient is in a stable condition.

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 and isolate until they receive the result. For COVID-19 testing locations nationwide, visit the Healthpoint website.

Additionally, anyone who hasn’t already done so should book their COVID-19 vaccination today.
 
Getting vaccinated is the best protection against COVID-19, and will help to accelerate our economic recovery, reduce the risk of future lockdowns, and safely allow New Zealand’s borders to begin re-opening.

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