The Ministry of Health is reporting eight new Covid cases. On Monday there were 12 cases.
One of the latest cases is unlinked and was a person that presented at the emergency department of Waitakere Hospital on Monday night. They are now in North Shore Hospital, while the department at the Waitakere Hospital has undergone a deep clean, five staff have been stood down and eight patients are being treated as contacts.
Of the 12 cases on Monday, five of those cases were infectious in the community.
The Government next reviews Alert levels next Monday.
Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield reported that a wastewater test in Tauranga had shown up a positive result. Further testing was to be done. He was recommending anybody with symptoms in Tauranga to get a Covid test.
There are 14 people in hospital - all in Auckland. Three of these are in ICU.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced some relaxation of the rules for people needing to leave Auckland, specifically for those needing to relocate, those with shared caregiving, or those returning home. They would need to present negative test results before being allowed to leave. A statement from Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins is attached at the bottom of this article.
Ardern reported that just 4000 people in Auckland received their first dose of the vaccine on Monday and she said the rates needed to be stepped up if Auckland was to meet the target of 90% with at least one dose.
Bloomfield said of the 1185 cases in the latest outbreak, 260 were children under the age of 12 and therefore not eligible for vaccination. Of the remaining 925 cases, 718 (78%) had no vaccine, 150 had one dose and 38 (4%) were fully vaccinated.
This is the detailed update from the Ministry of Health:
| Cases | |
| Number of new community cases | 8 |
| Number of new cases identified at the border | 4 cases (including 1 historical) |
| Location of new community cases | Auckland |
| Location of community cases (total) | Auckland (including 4 cases in Upper Hauraki; all of whom are in the same household) 1,168 (965 of whom have recovered); Wellington 17 (all of whom have recovered) |
| Number of community cases (total) | 1,185 (in the current community outbreak) |
| Cases infectious in the community | Five (42%) of yesterday’s cases have exposure events |
| Cases in isolation throughout the period they were infectious | Six (50%) of yesterday’s cases |
| Cases epidemiologically linked | Seven of today’s 8 cases are contacts of existing cases. |
| Cases to be epidemiologically linked | One of today’s 8 cases Investigations are continuing to determine a link. |
| Cases epidemiologically linked (total) | 1,156 (in the current cluster) (Seven unlinked from the past fortnight). |
| Number of sub-clusters | 15 epidemiologically linked subclusters. Of these, four are active, nine are contained and two are dormant. There are ten epidemiologically unlinked subclusters. Of these, none are active, three are contained and seven are dormant. |
| Cases in hospital | 14 (total): North Shore (2); Middlemore (6); Auckland (6) |
| Cases in ICU or HDU | Three |
| Confirmed cases (total) | 3,848 since pandemic began |
| Historical cases, since 1 Jan 2021 (total) | 159 out of 2,030 since 1 Jan 2021 |
| Contacts | |
| Number of open contacts being managed (total): | 982 |
| Percentage who have received an outbound call from contact tracers (to confirm testing and isolation requirements) | 93% |
| Percentage with at least one test result | 88% |
| Locations of interest | |
| Locations of interest (total) | 108 (as at 10am 28 September) |
| Tests | |
| Number of tests (total) | 3,346,490 |
| Number of tests processed (total last 24 hours) | 9,955 |
| Tests processed in Auckland (last 24 hours) | 7,562 |
| Tests rolling average (last 7 days) | 13,929 |
| Testing centres in Auckland | 22 |
| Wastewater | |
| Wastewater detections | A positive sample was detected in Tauranga on 23 September. Further testing is underway with results expected later this week. |
| COVID-19 vaccine update | |
| Vaccines administered to date (total) | 5,087,231; 1st doses: 3,252,825; 2nd doses: 1,834,406 |
| Vaccines administered yesterday (total) | 40,706; 1st doses: 12,641; 2nd doses: 28,065 |
| Māori | 1st doses: 312,332; 2nd doses: 160,664 |
| Pacific Peoples | 1st doses: 202,228; 2nd doses: 113,218 |
| Vaccines administered to Auckland residents to date (total) | 1,853,576; 1st doses: 1,181,645 (82%); 2nd doses: 671,931 (47%) |
| Vaccines administered to Auckland residents yesterday (total) | 15,163; 1st doses: 4,413; 2nd doses: 10,750 |
| NZ COVID-19 tracer | |
| Registered users (total) | 3,3,257,830 |
| Poster scans (total) | 390,291,961 |
| Manual diary entries (total) | 17,154,738 |
| Poster scans in 24 hours to midday yesterday | 1,527,097 |
New cases identified at the border
| Arrival date | From | Via | Positive test day/reason | Managed isolation/quarantine location |
| 14 September | UK | United Arab Emirates | Day 12/ Routine | Auckland |
| 21 September | Russia | United Arab Emirates | Day 3 / contact of a case | Auckland |
| 25 September | Singapore | Direct | Day 1 / routine | Auckland |
Historical cases identified at the border
| Arrival date | From | Via | Positive test day/reason | Managed isolation/quarantine location |
| 22 September | Cambodia | Singapore | Day 3 / routine | Christchurch |
Wastewater and Testing
ESR has reported one positive detection in wastewater in Tauranga from a sample collected on 23 September.
Follow up samples from Tauranga and Mount Maunganui were taken this morning (28 September), with results expected later this week (Thursday).
Additional samples are also being taken from nearby areas including Paeroa, Waihi Beach, Katikati, Matamata, Te Puke and Maketu.
Given we are dealing with the Delta variant, we are asking people in the Greater Tauranga area – including Mt Maunganui, to get a test if they are symptomatic, or have been at a location of interest in the Tauranga, Waikato, Auckland, or Upper Hauraki areas. A reminder that the Locations of Interest are on the Ministry’s website.
Testing centres in the area will be open extended hours today, and additional testing centres will be established tomorrow to manage increased demand. You can find the locations of testing centres in these areas on Healthpoint.co.nz.
Workers who travel frequently across the Auckland boundary are asked to please check that they are up to date with their regular testing; remember if you have any symptoms, isolate and get a test.
Testing continues across Auckland with a particular focus on Clover Park, Māngere, Favona, Ōtara, Manurewa and Mount Wellington/Sylvia Park.
For all testing locations nationwide, visit https://www.healthpoint.co.nz/
This is the statement from Hipkins:
From 11:59pm tonight additional reasons for permitted travel will be introduced for movement across the Auckland boundary, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins says.
“As this outbreak has shown Delta is highly transmissible, and in order to be confident of controlling its spread, restrictions at the Alert Level boundary have been tougher than previous outbreaks,” Chris Hipkins said.
“As case numbers have come down in Auckland and with the introduction of a testing regime for personal travel, we are now in a position where we can safely expand the permitted reasons for travel.”
The additional permitted travel reasons are for:
·People relocating permanently to
o Move into a new property that they have purchased or rented
o Start a new job
o Travel to undertake tertiary education or study
·Shared caregiving arrangements
·People returning home from Alert Level 3 to Alert Level 2
“There are people in Auckland who need to move to a new home or start a new job outside of Auckland, as well as families whose ability to maintain shared childcare arrangements has been restricted,” Chris Hipkins said.
“To ensure risks are mitigated, people who are relocating or returning home to an Alert Level 2 area will need to get a negative test within 72 hours of their departure.
“People crossing the boundary for shared caregiving arrangements will need to have a test within seven days of each crossing, as we recognise these arrangements may involve more back-and-forth travel than other reasons.
“People relocating or returning home will need to carry proof of their reason for travel, and not travel if they are unwell or have any symptoms of COVID-19.
“Students are asked to get in touch with their tertiary accommodation provider before planning their travel, so their provider can help prepare for their return.
“We have been able to make these changes due to the job that Alert Level 3 is doing, and we will continue to monitor the situation and take a flexible approach where it makes sense, and is safe to do so,” Chris Hipkins said.
People can already relocate or go back home to Auckland permanently, so long as they have proof of residential address. There is no requirement for a COVID-19 test.
“Most people are still not permitted to travel and it is really important that anyone with symptoms or who has been at a location of interest does not travel, isolates at home and gets a COVID-19 test,” Chris Hipkins said.
45 Comments
Maybe, just maybe, they've got it. Still probably odds against, but...
First doses in AKL have really slowed to a crawl. I'm thinking we're going to level off in the mid 80s, not surprising given Sydney seems to be stuck at ~85%. I do wish that they had been booking 3 week gaps instead of 6, though, seems like there's plenty of capacity for second doses which is going unused at the moment because people can't/won't move them up.
It’s a shame more information is not provided by our health officials about this.
It appears that 8-12 weeks would be better than 6 weeks - see links below
I am getting 2nd jab at 10 weeks
https://www.bmj.com/content/374/bmj.n1875
The preprint, released on 23 July, looked at immune responses in 503 healthcare workers who had received the Pfizer vaccine. It found that, after the second vaccine dose, neutralising antibody concentrations were higher after an interval of 6-14 weeks than after the 3-4 week regimen that was initially recommended.
When looking at the delta variant, researchers also noted that, though there were good levels of antibodies after the shorter dosing interval, levels were 2.3-fold higher with the longer dosing interval.
The bigger the gap you can leave between vaccines the better the immune response”, Cambridge University consultant clinical virologist Dr Chris Smith told RNZ. “Twelve weeks was de rigueur.”
Same message from a June 2021 study from the University of Birmingham and Public Health England: “Antibody response in people aged over 80 is three-and-a-half times greater in those who have the second dose of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine after 12 weeks compared to those who have it at a three-week interval.”
Same with the AstraZeneca vaccine, according to Public Health England.
“Data from clinical trials shows that the efficacy was higher when the second dose was given at, or after 12 weeks.”
And the fact this rather vital detail is not made clear by NZ Health authorities doesn’t make you think twice about what else may not be said?
https://www.covidplanb.co.nz/category/data-science/
If you actually read this slowly and think a little… wouldn’t you consider Pfizers own trials showing higher deathrate from vaccinated group as serious alarm bells?
Bollocks, and you know it! The link to actual information is there in the article in plain sight. Just because it is linked on a web page that does not agree with your point of view does not change the data in Pfeizer’s own study, so here it is just for you, linked directly here. Will make you view the info differently now ?
Who knows, perhaps, maybe but even if between now and next Monday’s decision new cases reach the desired zero it is hard to imagine the government will see that as sufficient for Auckland to relax below level 3. Embers of the extinguished forest fire mentality is not easy to dismiss and add to that the true likelihood that there are infections out there, right now, untested, unknown. And in the mix the increased activity & movement of school holidays Think the status quo nationwide will be implemented for another week folks. Two weeks was never going to be long enough, but announcing anything greater. politically unpalatable.
A damning comment for anti-vaxxers:
Of the "now 1185 cases to date in this outbreak, of which 260 children have been infected which "is significant" Bloomfield says. 78 per cent of those eligible had no vaccinations and only 4 per cent were fully immunised".
Time for some to get their head out of the sand. Besides one's own health, it is in the interests protecting children, limiting the spread of Covid, and minimising the potential pressure on the hospital system to get the vaccine.
Considering the demographics involved 4% seems high if the vaccine is meant to stop the spread at lower alert levels. (Had they had their two weeks?)
I guess some of them could be group 2 from Counties DHB with waning vax protection but everyone else is at peak protection.
Vaccines and cases are not independently randomly distributed amongst the population. Very few under 65 could have been double vaxed at the start of the outbreak and almost all the cases are under 65.
Yes you can make various conclusions here but also consider the vast majority of the cases are under 30 with a drop off before we reach the older vaxed.
Would it be fair to say that the majority of the 17.3 percent fully or partly vaccinated as of 13 August have been heavily weighted towards the over 65s (who themselves make up about 17 percent of New Zealand's population) and high risk groups including the medically compromised , a significant number of whom, particularly in Auckland would not have ventured far from their front door over the course of the latest outbreak. .
Carlos
Great leap in belief there.
Clearly you are drawing on both having a superior knowledge of the details of the case and your superior medical qualifications to override what was the prognosis of the medical personnel involved.
Only pratts advance conspiracy theories based on baseless conjecture. You are better than that Carlos.
I am sure anything that contravenes your government fear campaign induced beliefs will not be accepted by you, or people with a similar mind set. For everyone else with just a tiny bit of common sense and an enquiring mind, here is some food for thought:
https://dpbh.nv.gov/uploadedFiles/dpbhnvgov/content/Boards/BOH/Meetings…
900ish people got infected with the Delta variant.
1 person died, and they were 80+ immuno comprimised
Most people were not fully vaccinated
Now those people have natural immunity and antibodies that can last years.
Get all your boosters printer8 and hopefully by the time comes for the border to open up, you will be due for another. Good riddance
bmp
Really bizarre assertion advocating contracting Covid to get immunity.
I have had my double jab.
Far preferable having the double jab (first was only just felt as a slight prick and the second I didn’t feel) than at best being laid low feeling really crap for a week plus and high risk to life and long term effects.
Tough luck, I ain’t going anywhere so get used to it. :)
you do realise that this 78% figure is basically meaningless (its not a free for all trial where there is no lockdown and random spread)
ie If i was infected and passed it on to my close contacts in my church group... do you think the figure might possibly differ if
- they were all unvaccinated?
- they were all vaccinated?
As for children .... Nup .... thats all about risking their health so some decrepid oldies can hang in there a bit longer. Its morally criminal.
A risk i say ...
Yip
I guessed you missed this
Vaccine injured and friends and family attack Prime Minister | infonews.co.nz New Zealand News
The New Zealand Prime Minister's facebook page is still reeling from a PR (public relations) nightmare, after a post that encouraged the public to talk about vaccine side effects exploded…..
So for first doses <2% of eligible Aucklanders are getting a vaccine a week and that rate is falling rapidly. So I guess the key is figuring out how to encourage more people to get the shot otherwise it will be a long time if we ever get there.
I haven't seen a lot of action on this front besides the "Shot Bro" bus. They've talked about things such as financial incentives which could help, but need to get the move on with something.
I think the number taking this vaccine is dropping as kiwis have figured out that Labour is probably lying about all the deaths caused by the vaccine, as shown by the VAERS data. Labour has clearly been lying about everything else Covid related for 18 months; masks do not work and lockdowns do not work.
I believe it is time for brave people to stand up to the lies. In 1936, the one man who refused to salute Hitler in a crowd was hunted down and killed ie August Landmesser; https://thebfd.co.nz/2021/09/27/what-are-the-unintended-consequences-of…. He was married to a Jew - who had been singled out like Cindy is doing to the unvaccinated. His wife was also killed in the camps.
I think the time has come for all the Kiwi August Landmessers to stand up to our fascist PM and say; "Enough is enough, when are the Covid lies going to stop". Like Hitler she may currently have majority political support but is wrong about everything.
Imagine living your life without assuming everyone is lying to you and has some global agenda that you are actually in any way useful for? (Oh the arrogance)
I meet many of these people each day. They have done their research from reliable sources and aren't digging around for obscure dodgy sources that undoubtedly have their own agenda in order to reinforce their world view that everyone is against them.
They are pretty happy well-balanced people.
I encourage you to take a walk on the wild side and try living without the crippling anxiety and endless imagined agendas.
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