13 new Covid-19 cases; 2 in Tokoroa; 12 linked to Auckland cluster

13 new and probable cases of Covid-19; 12 linked to Auckland cluster; 1 under investigation; 2 cases in Tokoroa

14th Aug 20, 1:16pm by Jenée Tibshraeny

Ashley Bloomfield. Getty Images.

There are 12 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand and one new probable case.

Of these 13 cases, 12 are linked to the Auckland cluster. The source of one case is under investigation. This is the newest confirmed case.

Two confirmed cases are in Tokoroa and are part of the same household.

In total, 29 confirmed and one probable case of Covid-19 have been found in the community in recent days.

Around 26,000 tests have been undertaken in the past 48 hours. 15,703 were processed on Thursday.

Someone with Covid-19 visited a resident in the Kingswood resthome in Morrinsville before they had symptoms. The resident has tested negative, as have staff who had contact with this resident. Others at the resthome are still awaiting test results.

The schools affected by the outbreak include Mt Albert Grammar, Taeaofou i Puaseisei Preschool, Glamorgan School and the Southern Cross Campus.

Director General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said in the 1pm press conference that Pakuranga College was also affected, but the Ministry of Health later confirmed: "While there is a casual link, the Ministry is awaiting further test results and at this point no additional public health action is required from the school."

The workplaces affected include certain Finance Now and AmeriCold sites.

The Ministry of Health has identified 771 close contacts of the Auckland cluster. 514 of these people had been contacted as of 10am this morning.

There will be an update on alert levels at 5.30pm today, after Cabinet meets this afternoon.

The Ministry of Health's advice to Cabinet is still being finalised.

People linked to the Auckland cluster have already moved into quarantine facilities.

Only people who have symptoms are being tested. Those without symptoms are being urged not to try to get tests.

The Ministry also confirmed two people who travelled in New Zealand later tested positive for Covid 19 overseas. These cases are being investigated.

One case is a Japanese traveller who left New Zealand on August 8 and transited through Singapore enroute to Japan. The other case is a Belgian traveller who left New Zealand on 6 August and transited through Singapore enroute to Amsterdam.

An interview with the cases, now overseas, established that the Japanese traveller spent some time in Wellington prior to departure and visited The Ramen Shop among a number of other places. These premises are all considered casual contacts of the traveller, they have been contacted and provided with advice as part of the normal contact tracing process.

No further action is required from any of these premises as the risk is considered very low.

Here is a press release from the Ministry, sent out after the press conference:

There are 12 new confirmed cases and one probable case of COVID-19 to report in the community today - 13 new cases in total.

Of the 13 new cases, all bar one, are linked to existing cases. The 13th, currently in Auckland hospital, is believed to be linked but the link is still being investigated.

Two of the 13 new cases are in Tokoroa. These two people tested positive after a visit from a close contact of one of the Auckland cases.

Details of all these cases is on our website.

We are now asking that all positive cases and their families who live in Auckland transfer to the local quarantine facility. This is so we can greatly reduce the risk of transmission, especially within households.

To date, 38 people linked to the cluster have now been moved into quarantine facility, including 18 who have tested positive and close contacts.

The 12 new confirmed cases to report today bring our total number of confirmed cases to 1251 which is the number we report to the World Health Organization.

The total number of active cases in New Zealand to 48, 29 of which are linked to the recent outbreak.

We continue to investigate close contacts. Our primary means of doing this is interviewing each positive case, identifying contacts and testing and isolating those who are close contacts and assessing casual contacts who are advised to be vigilant about
their health. If symptoms develop they should seek medical advice from Healthline or their GP and isolate and get tested if they develop symptoms.

Our national tracing service has 771 close contacts identified; they have contacted 514 as at 10am this morning. The Ministry strongly encourages anyone who is called by our contact tracers to please take the call.

In addition to Mount Albert Grammar, two other Auckland schools and a preschool are fully closed after confirmed cases have been linked to each of them.

Auckland regional public health is tracing close contacts at the two schools and preschool.

While they do this, all pupils and their families have been asked to be vigilant for any symptoms after one student each in two schools tested positive for COVID-19. The schools are Glamorgan School at Auckland’s North Shore and South Auckland’s

Southern Cross Campus. A pre-schooler at Taeaofou / Puaseisei preschool has also tested positive.

The Ministry incorrectly named Pakuranga College as an affected school. While there is a casual link, the Ministry is awaiting further test results and at this point no additional public health action is required from the school.

The Ministry apologises for putting information in the public domain without first notifying the school.

Yesterday our laboratories processed 15,703 tests, bringing the total number of tests completed to date to 524,414.

Demand has been high at the dedicated testing centres across Auckland and we again thank people for their patience.

There are 16 testing stations around Auckland, people can also get testing at their GPs. Anyone who is symptomatic should please phone ahead.

Morrinsville Aged Residential Care Facility

Waikato DHB’s Public Health Unit has confirmed two COVID-19 positive people visited Kingswood Rest Home in Morrinsville before they knew they had been exposed or were symptomatic.

The Ministry comments the rest home for responding rapidly and working closely with the local Medical Officers of Health.

The resident who was visited has tested negative as have the staff members who interacted with the visitors.

All staff and residents who may have been at the rest home during the period of concern are self-isolating.

All have been tested and results are expected by tomorrow. We are maintaining contact with all affected individuals and replacement staff are being sought to provide cover.

The DHB has provided the rest home with additional PPE and will continue working closely with the team there. Contact tracing, follow-up and welfare checks are also being undertaken.

Other investigations

As part of our normal processes we have been informed about two travellers who left New Zealand and later tested positive for Covid 19 overseas.

These cases are being investigated but have not yet been officially confirmed.

One case is a Japanese traveller who left New Zealand on 8 August and transited through Singapore enroute to Japan. The other case is a Belgian traveller who left New Zealand on 6 August and transited through Singapore enroute to Amsterdam. Both travellers were asymptomatic in New Zealand.

An interview with the cases, now overseas, established that the Japanese traveller spent some time in Wellington prior to departure and visited The Ramen Shop among a number of other places. These premises are all considered casual contacts of the traveller, they have been contacted and provided with advice as part of the normal contact tracing process. No further action is required from any of these premises as the risk is considered very low.

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Finally, we are getting reports of people stockpiling medicines. Please rest assured that the supply chain for critical medicines is not impacted by the current situation. Pharmacies are an essential service so access to medicines will continue as usual.

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172 Comments

by realterms | 14th Aug 20, 1:31pm 1597368717

I'm picking L3 for auckland+waikato+bop until the 23rd. L2 elsewhere.

by RCD | 14th Aug 20, 1:24pm 1597368263

i''m picking L4 tonight and the only reason it's not announced already is they want to wait for stock market to close first

by Jesse1 | 14th Aug 20, 1:43pm 1597369423

If level 4 happens, watch the stock market go up next week because it will confirm and justify further reserve bank action. It's sickening what the reserve bank is getting ready to do. Property is also about to take off for the same reasons making our society sicker.

by andreas_od | 14th Aug 20, 1:48pm 1597369707

may be just a bear trap and they will leave level 3 for let's say another 10 days. Watch last 30 min stock price action , if sudden buy , that means it was a trap and level 4 won't eventuate. Sometimes it is hard to admit for me that NZ officials are just playing this covid game to manipulate the markets and blow bubbles even harder

by andreas_od | 14th Aug 20, 6:02pm 1597384979

Ok, I was almost precisely right, it is L3 for 12 d

by andreas_od | 14th Aug 20, 1:59pm 1597370354

you can even judge by the eyes of reporters who report those news and how those news are delivered to you , everything is done to generate high level of urgency as if something happens reeeeaaaally bad and has neeever before. And certainly after that RBNZ comes up with their potion of news about extending QE as if now they have the reason to do that . There is no conspiracy theories here everything is open, as a potential FHB I will still not be buying , just out of simple consideration that I have a dignity and don't wan't to be "enslaved debtor" or "indebted slave" (choose your's definition)

by andreas_od | 14th Aug 20, 2:13pm 1597371185

FHB's must understand it , unite and stop buying. In this case they will have 3 choices: 1) turn the country into Zimbabwe; 2) markets severely correct and house price become affordable not the house dept; 3)Sell off the country (housing including) to China , e.g. get rid of Foreign Buyers Ban

by Rob Reid | 14th Aug 20, 3:06pm 1597374396

I agree. The closest I might get to the property market could be building a garage in the wop wops, with enough space down the side for a row of spuds. But I am really enjoying watching the wheels go round.

My Dad (still with us) was born in the UK in the Great Depression, remembers it and WW2 - has so many cool stories - eg. scooping shell casings out of roof spouting. Now I get to have my own Greater Depression - take that, Dad!

by Lanthanide | 14th Aug 20, 1:25pm 1597368308

I'm picking L3 for Auckland and L2 everywhere else, extended till next Friday.

by JimboJones | 14th Aug 20, 1:33pm 1597368821

Same. While its only one cluster its not really level 4 worthy.

by Lanthanide | 14th Aug 20, 1:35pm 1597368930

Yip. L2 is barely worthy of the name 'lockdown', and with L3 shops are still open for click & collect etc. Very different from L4.

by Kezza R | 14th Aug 20, 3:51pm 1597377096

They have only tested 15,000 who have symptoms. Once they test the a good number of people who are not showing signs we will have a better idea if it is a cluster or full blown.

by Rob Reid | 14th Aug 20, 5:44pm 1597383877

You were spot on - just announced

by Mrs The Point | 14th Aug 20, 5:58pm 1597384729

Um, no. The extension is until Wed 26th.

by Rob Reid | 14th Aug 20, 6:24pm 1597386249

Ha! Yeah, I have a low bar for accuracy these days.

by Fritz | 14th Aug 20, 1:22pm 1597368147

Good to see my source is fairly accurate. Just over 40 cases in Auckland.
What happened to the Dunedin case Kezza?

by Lanthanide | 14th Aug 20, 1:30pm 1597368652

There are 30 active cases as a result of community transmission, 28 in Auckland and 2 in Tokoroa.

by Fritz | 14th Aug 20, 1:32pm 1597368734

Yes but I said last night there would be at least 40 cases, overall, in Auckland - today.
Pretty much spot on.

by Mrs The Point | 14th Aug 20, 2:45pm 1597373151

There is 30 not 40.

by Fritz | 14th Aug 20, 3:00pm 1597374028

There are 49 active cases, with what 45 in Auckland?

I said last night:

'I suspect tomorrow we will hear there are at least 40 cases in Auckland'.

by Mrs The Point | 14th Aug 20, 3:10pm 1597374631

Ok, not talking about the cluster.

by Kezza R | 14th Aug 20, 1:38pm 1597369129

No news, must have been false, much like the positve result and also a CV death reports in Wellington.

by Masher | 14th Aug 20, 2:16pm 1597371371

It might be a car accident that hasn't been declared a Covid death yet :-)

by Jenée Tibshraeny | 14th Aug 20, 1:36pm 1597368971

Altogether there are 30 cases of Covid-19 linked to the recent outbreak found in the community.

by Kezza R | 14th Aug 20, 2:07pm 1597370879

In the testing of 15,000 people with symptoms.
The people that become infected today from asymptomatic carriers may take upto 2 weeks before showing symptoms and then a day or three untill they get tested.

by Lanthanide | 14th Aug 20, 4:04pm 1597377852

If any asymptomatic carriers are present, and if those people are coming into contact with others in such a way that they can spread the disease.

Evidence to date suggests that asymptomatic carriers are much less likely to pass the disease on than symptomatic ones (which makes sense if you think about what the lack of sneezing and coughing means in terms of transmission vectors).

Note that asymptomatic carriers are NOT the same as pre-symptomatic carriers, who are quite infectious and one of the reasons COVID has a much higher R value than influenza does.

by denature | 14th Aug 20, 4:50pm 1597380607

We still don't know what it's R-value is thats why it's not a great measure.
If you don't know how many people have it or have had it, your r-value is just a guess. It might be higher than flu. It might be lower or the same.

by Boatman | 14th Aug 20, 1:36pm 1597369000

Typing this post as I watch this managed media briefing and its noticeable that the media is way more hostile at this press briefing right now more than ever before

Its about bloody time .

We are being treated by sheep by this Government

Jacinda noticeably absent

One reporter openly confronted Health minister re the MISLEADING the public over the past few days

This Government is making an utter shambles of this whole thing

by Fritz | 14th Aug 20, 1:33pm 1597368784

Yes I agree - this type of grilling is way overdue.

by b21 | 14th Aug 20, 1:46pm 1597369560

Just in time for the election...

by JimboJones | 14th Aug 20, 1:36pm 1597368982

Hah your joking right, if you want to see a shambles just look over the ditch at Melbourne.

by Boatman | 15th Aug 20, 7:49am 1597434575

@jimbojones , do speak too soon , we are on the same track as Melbourne .

Melbourne started with just 6 cases a few weeks ago

by Lanthanide | 14th Aug 20, 1:41pm 1597369304

Yes but they didn't move hard and fast to clamp down on them, did they?

by denature | 14th Aug 20, 2:12pm 1597371162

Hard and Fast, Soft and Slow it doesn't really matter.
It is virtually impossible to detect this because of the large amount of asymptomatic rate. Lockdowns in UK and Norway were too late the case load was already falling when they locked down. Similar in most of Italy.
If we had some reliable way of quickly testing people (like a breathlizer for alcohol) maybe. But even then how do you know to test people with no symptoms?
There is no real way to control this and hard and fast does exactly what the crappy ICL model said it would. Repress the outbreak but it just re-occurs after lockdown has been lifted. At least they sort of got one thing right in that "scientific" model. It's about as scientific as churning through chicken entrails. And about as accurate.
I have said it before we all deal with models every day when we check the weather. Trillions of dollars have been spent in the last 60 years developing weather prediction. The data series is massive and goes back to the middle ages and even longer in some areas. But if the weather says it will be sunny next Friday with showers in the afternoon, do any of us put any faith in that model? The accuracy of weather prediction any more than a few days out is similar to flipping coins. Yet much less well funded epidemiological models with tiny data sets are given so much air time...and actually taken as serious predictors.
We are gambling personal freedoms, public health (the UK estimates 30 000 deaths from lockdown itself), mental health, economic health for a virus where victims have an average age of 79 and nearly 90% have pre-existing conditions. This has been a fact throughout this panicdemic.
Sweden is one of the few countries that did not gamble on a virus accepting that on balance the best thing to do is live with it as best you can. I would hope we did a better job of protecting the elderly and infirm then Sweden (over 70% of fatalities were in care homes). But aside from that the go hard approach has just delayed the inevitable at an absolutely colossal cost. And we are still gambling on a vaccine. It may come. But it may never come. We still don't have vaccines for lots of things HIV being an obvious example that killed 777000 people in 2018 alone. But don't worry too much because most of those who die are poor people. So we don't emblazon that all over the media constantly.
Has anyone else noticed that the media stopped regularly reporting deaths in the US about a month ago? It was cases than deaths for months. Why? Because with more intensive testing they were getting a much lower mortality rate. So the media stopped reporting it because it wasn't alarming enough.
This is far more panic than substance.

by JimboJones | 14th Aug 20, 2:24pm 1597371859

Yes if we just did virtually nothing for a couple of weeks like they did we might be in trouble.
If our government's fast acting means that we are back to elimination in a week or two will you finally admit Boatman that our government is getting it right a lot more than any other government in the world?

by denature | 14th Aug 20, 3:01pm 1597374061

How can you go "back to elimination"? Surely something is eliminated or it isn't?
And that is the thing with the whole elimination strategy there is a massive source of infection outside of our little bubble. It is impossible to eliminate and unnecessary given the low mortality rate and the fact that it targets a very specific group that we should be able to protect.
We keep kidding ourselves. Australian bubble. Pacific bubble. Cook Islands bubble.
We didn't even get to any of those points and we have it back....or it never meant away and we have just picked it up again.
Maybe a vaccine is just around the corner. Maybe not. A gamble that we will find one. Nothing to suggest we will.
A gamble in the tens of billions.
Either way it seems pointless doing anything other than what Sweden did.

by JimboJones | 14th Aug 20, 3:26pm 1597375616

Well excluding the last 3 days we have had much more freedom over the previous 100 days than Sweden has. Personally I prefer the hard lockdown every so often followed by freedom compared to a constant state of social distancing etc. economically it’s debatable which is better, I suspect our approach is better.

Surely elimination is contextual. You can eliminate all the weeds in your garden without eliminating all of the weeds in the world. The elimination will be temporary but it will look a lot better. In terms of covid I consider elimination to mean (temporarily) eliminated from the community

by denature | 14th Aug 20, 3:56pm 1597377382

Fair point on elimination, it is a bastardisation of the word. But then the meaning of words is constantly changing.
The restrictions in Sweden were basically our level 2 and have been long since lifted. Social distancing was recommended but not enforced in any way.
They are also not having any of the flare ups that many other nations are experiencing that did lockdown.
Personally I worry about the erosion of personal freedoms the most. It is not glib to say that many people died for those freedoms and there is always a good excuse for stopping them. The excuses tend to keep coming though, once you have shifted the Overton window.
I agree that it is debatable. However I find it frustrating that while you and I are debating it.....there is nothing in our media or in our government that shows any sort of debate.

by Lanthanide | 14th Aug 20, 4:06pm 1597377971

I think 'elimination' for a disease meaning it is globally eliminated is not very useful. Very few diseases have been eliminated under that definition.

Much better to refer to global elimination as 'eradication' IMO, and leave 'elimination' to refer to a geographic area in context.

by Value Added | 14th Aug 20, 4:07pm 1597378041

My lord, "Boatman" or whatever your are, I actually can't take your lies anymore - I live in Melbourne and you are spouting rubbish!!

On August 1st there were 610 new covid cases in Victoria - 610! More than 100 times as many as your claim!! The Melbourne Stamford Hotel quarantine breach was identified on June 17 - six weeks before Melbourne's Stage 4 "lockdown" was declared. By all measures the NZ government has acted swiftly and decisively. Obviously there hasn't been enough testing on frontline staff, so that needs to be fixed, but all countries are learning as they go. Plus many workers in Auckland are refusing testing. It's a complicated issue and it's an infectious disease - it's miraculous NZ went so long without community transmission. We have looked over with envy at how life has gone on back there. Though the ranting angry selfish kiwis make me happy to live in Melbourne ; )

As someone who works in journalism, I think NZ reporting is a low bar - sensationalist and leading. Many of the questions centre around, "are you lying to us?" Which is lazy at best, and suggests an agenda at worst. I don't understand why Judith Collins gets so much air time - over here, leaders of the opposition are interviewed when it's relevant, not just when they want to have a rant.

And as far as the blame game - I'm sure that's your goal. Lower the bar, they're all the same, it's Jacinda's fault blah blah. Clearly you are politically motivated and judging by your constant commentary I suspect closely connected to the National Party or further right, but regardless - I want readers to know this guy is about as "tin of fish" as it gets.

So stop commenting on Melbourne - Auckland is not on the same track and you know nothing of what this city is going through. We are struggling because of late decision-making because "the economy" and now people are suffering immensely. And the economy is down the toilet.

Good luck to you Auckland, get yourselves some good masks. And shame on people like Boatman who rub their hands with glee...

by denature | 14th Aug 20, 5:21pm 1597382507

Interesting stuff, thanks Value Added.
I am still struggling to find anything that shows masks are useful. I have read some literature....it's very thin and there are many factors in play that are not answered. It makes sense logically like lockdown in some ways. But I don't think making sense logically is good enough.
In particular I don't think masking is a good thing socially. We should be very cautious about shifting Overton windows. I think there has to be more justification for hocking our children up to the eye balls in debt and structurally shifting our societal attitudes for a disease that does look more and more like seasonal flu in terms of mortality. And certainly less dangerous than cancer or heart disease, or TB.

by Pietro | 14th Aug 20, 6:42pm 1597387357

@Boatman
That is so wrong and totally irresponsible. Just what are you trying to achieve with this misinformation?

by kpnuts | 14th Aug 20, 1:39pm 1597369177

those of us in healthcare knew this --- vaccines were not available - now proven - masks were not available first time round - ask any NGO provider - it took 6 weeks to get anything from MOH or a DHB -

About time - we ask why the thousands of staff working in these isolation facilities have not even been tested once -- when we all know the only way that the virus gets back in - was through the airports, new arrivals and transmission at isolation facilities -

So much for appointing a competent minister to manage it ......

by Northern Lights | 14th Aug 20, 3:50pm 1597377040

That's it in a nutshell. It is clear that the Health Ministry now have the capacity to test on a reasonably large scale. Everyone working at an airport, port or isolation facility should be tested on a weekly basis. If you don't have the dna samples to compare the family's Covid-19 dna tests to then you're nowhere.

It will be interesting to find out, if we ever do, how the family got infected. Did one of them catch the disease from a relative who knew someone who worked at an isolation facility? Did the coolstore worker accidently defrost a package, wipe their hands on their pants and take the virus back home? Has a drugrunner come in from Sydney via the Islands to Onehunga harbour on his yacht and met his clients at a bar in South Auckland somewhere. How long is the chain.

by oldbloke1 | 14th Aug 20, 1:40pm 1597369256

Why should the media be hostile? Aren't they there to find out information, which they then disseminate to their eager customers? Or do you think that the media is part of the national party, boatman?

by Boatman | 14th Aug 20, 1:47pm 1597369672

The media have been way to soft and benign , now its gone , no more passive media

by oldbloke1 | 14th Aug 20, 2:06pm 1597370815

So you think that the media should be doing the oppositions's job...

by Kezza R | 14th Aug 20, 2:36pm 1597372580

We all know who has been caught with their pants down not doing their job.

by GV 27 | 14th Aug 20, 2:33pm 1597372405

The media is very good at backslapping itself about how it serves an essential purpose in a democracy that 'speaks the truth to power'. They have breathlessly reported abject untruths like the 'hard and fast' lie as absolute truth. They're either just there to read press releases, or to actually serve their self-stated purpose, but they can't just pick and choose depending on who is in power and if they want to be best friends or not. Frankly, some actual scrutiny is well overdue.

by Kezza R | 14th Aug 20, 2:38pm 1597372695

If it was National standing up there, one of the questions would have been'who is getting sacked for this?'.

by Lanthanide | 14th Aug 20, 3:07pm 1597374448

lol

by vman | 14th Aug 20, 3:12pm 1597374753

Most of the Nats have already been sacked or resigned or stabbed in the back.

by Kezza R | 14th Aug 20, 3:19pm 1597375198

But our Labour MP's that have made some serious screw ups are still arround. Chris Hipkins should be gone for not testing boarder staff.

by Lanthanide | 14th Aug 20, 4:07pm 1597378065

Border staff were being tested, just not according to the schedule that you think is necessary.

This is seriously not a case of "no tests were done at all", and if you believe that, then you're simply mistaken.

by Kezza R | 14th Aug 20, 4:15pm 1597378524

The amount of tests taken were very few amd not frequent enough.

by Hook | 14th Aug 20, 6:12pm 1597385575

A question about "how are you feeling today" and a temperature check is nowhere near what the average thinking person would consider adequate at a border facility. Anyone who maintains this was "testing" is being totally disingenuous. Absolute fail

by GV 27 | 14th Aug 20, 2:56pm 1597373801

I should add this does not apply to all journos obv., nor do some journalists deserve the heat they are getting from people online when it comes to actually asking questions e.g. Tova.

by Hook | 14th Aug 20, 5:47pm 1597384035

Every time the opposition tries to query St Cindy and co they get savaged by the media.. especially the likes of Kim Hill and Corrin Dan. Maybe the media should just stick to reporting the facts and stop trying to be Spanish Inquisitors

by Foyle | 14th Aug 20, 2:10pm 1597371059

The media have been ok at asking questions, except when it comes to Jacinda. She has enjoyed special status and very few in media are willing to push her on anything. That may be changing.

by denature | 14th Aug 20, 2:15pm 1597371340

The media should be critical. They have not been.

by Fritz | 14th Aug 20, 2:41pm 1597372900

They need to apply a critical lens. That doesn't automatically mean they will be critical, or aggressive. But it might mean that, depending on where their critical analysis leads them.
Unfortunately, few are skilled in this area.

by denature | 14th Aug 20, 2:52pm 1597373562

Agreed. Size of our media maybe? I don't really know.
But the lack of critique gives me tiny little strokes every time I listen to a press conference and they rush to ask some irrelevant question.

by Lanthanide | 14th Aug 20, 4:09pm 1597378140

Dependent on the government for news to fill column inches, can't afford to get the government offside (opposition are fair game) as it'll curtail their future news writing ability.

by denature | 14th Aug 20, 4:59pm 1597381143

Yes but keeping the government onside for access, that is similar in all countries right? Yet other countries have a more sophisticated and critical media then ours.
The news media has been struggling for a long time. Perhaps they are being pushed into tighter corners and having to walk more and more tightropes to stay alive.
Clearly, not a good position for society generally. This pandemic has suffered from a lot of sensationalism. Certainly the problem is real and people are dying. But the outrageous numbers sprayed all over the media by reporters who do not seem to understand that modelling is guesswork and really only for guidance in the most general of terms, has been hugely detrimental to informed debate.
Sensationalist clickbait......but then they are struggling to stay alive and we humans are more attuned to bad news than good.

by Pietro | 14th Aug 20, 1:42pm 1597369354

Hipkins and Bloomfield were totally credible. The numbers of tests, 15,000, is stellar. If we all keep calm, follow the rules and pull together, there won’t be a problem. One person in hospital at the moment, so keep it in proportion. I have extensive media experience, and I can say that Bloomfield and Hipkins were 100% upfront today. If Ardern fronts, people complain, if she doesn’t, people complain. We are in good, capable hands, thank god, and goodnight.

by Kezza R | 14th Aug 20, 1:56pm 1597370219

15,000 per day, they should all be tested again in 12 days. Alk population 1.6 million. How dose a virus get eliminated at a rate of 15,000 per day when it takes upto 12 days to show up in some people.
There has been lot of time to have more efficient testing capabilities in place but what we are seeing is the current testing rate will not contain.
Basically only those who have symptoms are being tested at testing stations, which leaves asymptomatic people walking arround for two weeks before they are tested.
15,000 a day is no where near enough tests to eliminate.

by Ron Pol | 14th Aug 20, 2:28pm 1597372084

All AKL could be tested in a few days, entire NZ population within a week. Not of course with NZ's sclerotic testing system.

by kpnuts | 14th Aug 20, 1:57pm 1597370251

are you trolling pietro?

by Kezza R | 14th Aug 20, 2:12pm 1597371148

Extensive media experience... sounds like a PR spin manager.

by Pietro | 14th Aug 20, 2:40pm 1597372828

Yes. I’m the stick-to-the-facts troll. My club is the voice of reason. I’m the troll who firmly believes we are in the best possible hands at the moment, although I think we will have to manage Covid, as elimination in the short/medium term is nigh impossible. There almost certainly will be a vaccine, though, and other treatments within the next 12-18 months, which will be a game changer. But I really hate to see people using a national crisis for politicking or spruiking their selfish financial interests. So counter productive. At the moment, we have one person in hospital.
I’ll sign off with a troll- like roar GRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!

by Kezza R | 14th Aug 20, 2:42pm 1597372947

It would take 135,800 tests per day to test all of Alk in 12 days and that would have to be repeated a couple of times. 15,000 a day is not cutting it!

by denature | 14th Aug 20, 3:05pm 1597374353

"Certainly be a vaccine". A bit lacking in reason there, there is no certainty around a vaccine. How are you certain?

by Lanthanide | 14th Aug 20, 3:07pm 1597374469

Maybe quote the immediately preceding word: "almost".

Then it reads "almost certainly will be a vaccine".

by denature | 14th Aug 20, 4:01pm 1597377664

Fair enough. So how is Pietro almost certain?

by Lanthanide | 14th Aug 20, 4:11pm 1597378281

Russia claims to have a vaccine. There are two other vaccines that have shown very promising phase 1 and 2 trials and have started, or are soon starting, phase 3 trial, and if successful are likely to be rolled out en-masse in Q1 of next year. More research has been done to better understand the immune response to COVID. So far very few people appear to have suffered genuinely separate infections - most cases of 'tested positive a second time' are from lingering illnesses or testing leftover fragments of the virus still in their system that aren't actively infectious but are still picked up by the tests.

by denature | 14th Aug 20, 5:10pm 1597381822

Fair points. But it's nowhere near certain.
First off who trusts Putin?
Second, many, many drugs get to phase 2. It's almost meaningless. Another thing the media has hyped. Phase 3 is where most drugs fail.
This coronavirus has some similarity to the one that causes the common cold, as evidenced by t-cell cross reactivity. In Sweden it simply did not infect as many people as you would expect from it's infectiousness. There must be something else going on and that is probably due to T-cell recognising it.
However we don't have a vaccine for coronavirus that causes the common cold. Or any treatments really. Asprin maybe?
Finally even if they do have a tested vaccine, by Q1 next year, there is simply is not a enough productive capacity to vaccinate everyone and we will not be high on the list.
I heard an interview with a senior executive at Sanofi. He said that if the 5 largest drug companies in the world, did nothing but produce vaccine they might be able to make 600 million a year. That isn't quite going to cut it is it?
The vaccine near certainty...it smells of hubris to me aside from the obvious technical problems.

by Boatman | 14th Aug 20, 2:00pm 1597370400

Pietro , for goodness sake , can you not see a carefully crafted stage-managed media briefing when you see it ?

This Government has come on TV every day at 1 pm telling us what a wonderful job they are doing to protect us .

They were not doing the most basic things like screening EVERYONE at the airport , they did none of this .

People were herded into Q -centres , and no testing was done whatsoever

Its been an unmitigated shambles

by Pietro | 14th Aug 20, 2:35pm 1597372523

I’ve been part of the media pack, and let me tell you that no-one could stage manage me! Might be one or two with an eye on govt comms roles, another few out to make a name for themselves by being overly hostile, and a few backed by vested interests ( yes, I’m looking at you ****) but by and large journalIsts are a professional bunch who hold public figures to account, a la Boag, Woodhouse, Galloway Lees and more than a few others of late, mostly from the blue corner.

by Lanthanide | 14th Aug 20, 4:11pm 1597378312

People were herded into Q -centres , and no testing was done whatsoever

Stop repeating this lie.

by Boatman | 15th Aug 20, 7:51am 1597434719

It's TRUE and I have heard it first hand

by Hook | 14th Aug 20, 5:51pm 1597384307

Well good to get a media persons perspective. If that's the fawning lapdog perspective of mainstream media then no wonder St Cindy isn't having her feet held to coals over the latest MIQF revelations

by Jenée Tibshraeny | 14th Aug 20, 2:41pm 1597372872

Hi Boatman, as someone who attends these briefings, my view is that there was no hostility today. Those of us in the press gallery go to work every day with the aim of keeping leaders accountable in the interest of the public. It would be wrong to characterise journalists asking pressing questions at a critical time, as hostility. As for the mood, it's been more tense than it was today on a number of occasions in recent weeks/months.

by Ron Pol | 14th Aug 20, 2:31pm 1597372301

Thanks Jenee, great to hear from source. I'll also add to the chorus readers recently saying thanks for lots of superb pieces. More thoughtful analysis is what draws many here I reckon.

by sharetrader | 14th Aug 20, 2:38pm 1597372721

im glad tova finally went at him for lack of border testing at the airport itself,
i personally know customs officers (front facing) that were never tested, temp checked
and to say they were was just untrue

by Albert2020 | 14th Aug 20, 3:34pm 1597376094

What have they been misleading the public about? Specifically ....

by Becnz | 14th Aug 20, 3:49pm 1597376946

Jacinda seems to be missing alot when the news is negative

by Solve_it | 15th Aug 20, 9:53am 1597442017

She can't win. Opposition saying she shouldn't be getting the free publicity by fronting these so she sends her health minister. Some people refuse to be satisfied either way.

by delboy | 14th Aug 20, 1:30pm 1597368647

Good to see at the 1pm briefing Tova O'Brien questioning Minister Chipkins why two thirds of staff working at the border or in quarantine hotels have never been tested.

by Boatman | 15th Aug 20, 7:53am 1597434807

@dellboy , yes ............ we the people are now angry wit this hopeless Government

Hipkins is being evasive

He is clearly on the ropes as all the lies start to come out

Not enough testing at the airport

Zero testing in quarantine

We are tired of these managed media spin briefings .

by frazz | 14th Aug 20, 1:40pm 1597369250

I'm not angry ...you angry..nope, life in Palmerston North (except housing market has some heat) today is pretty ho hum. L3 for Auckland for a week tops my guess.

by Pragmatist | 14th Aug 20, 2:12pm 1597371156

2 weeks please.. will give me time to do what i need around the house, and have all the project paperwork ready to go when we get back to work.

by Lanthanide | 14th Aug 20, 1:41pm 1597369265

Zero testing in quarantine

Jacinda said quarantine workers were tested weekly, and obviously people in quarantine have tested positive or are considered probable cases.

by Foyle | 14th Aug 20, 2:15pm 1597371310

Care to revise your statement Ms Ardern?

Newshrub "just one week before our current community outbreak, 63.5 percent of all border and hotel isolation workers in Auckland had never been tested for COVID-19".

by Lanthanide | 14th Aug 20, 3:10pm 1597374645

Jacinda was talking about those managing the quarantine hotels.

Not the isolation hotels.

Words have specific meanings, and matter when you're trying to communicate.

Even if Boatman sloppily meant quarantine and isolation when he said quarantine, your figure shows he's still wrong.

by Hook | 14th Aug 20, 6:07pm 1597385257

The trouble with the media questions is they are too vague and give the politicians too much wriggle room. The question should have been unequivocal - how many people working in MIQFs have undergone a PCR test in the last 14 days??, followed by how many people are currently staffing the MIQFs? The media are too worried about their future to pin the tail on the donkey, preferring instead to focus on personality and minor background mishaps rather than actual performance or lack of. There was more of an outcry about selection meddling in Auck. Cent. than the lack of MIQF staff PCR testing... speaks volumes

by kpnuts | 14th Aug 20, 1:41pm 1597369304

go hard go early ........... then go missing in action !

by delboy | 14th Aug 20, 1:43pm 1597369403

His reply to Tova's question suggested compulsory testing was a heavy handed step or something to that effect.

I read that as better to have the virus infecting workers at the border than risk offending them with compulsory testing.

by Pietro | 14th Aug 20, 1:45pm 1597369558

‘We’? Don’t think so, Boatman. Don’t count me in. Your arguments are so leaky it’s hard to see how you stay afloat. Hipkins is doing a good job as I speak, and is not being evasive. So much better than Clarke.

by Boatman | 14th Aug 20, 1:50pm 1597369841

He is feeling the heat , and its about time , the media at the briefings have given every inch of goodwill to Government .

Its over , we are fed up with the litany of cock-ups from the arrivals at the borders to the mismanagement at the Q -centres

by Kezza R | 14th Aug 20, 2:17pm 1597371422

They were simple commonsense, shouldn't be looked over holes that were left gaping wide open.
He failed to do his job!

by Andrewj | 14th Aug 20, 1:31pm 1597368686

Cluster cluster - Boom

by Foxglove. | 14th Aug 20, 1:48pm 1597369722

Aye true, and it is the boom of a scattergun ( 4 gauge) at that

by kpnuts | 14th Aug 20, 1:43pm 1597369406

Bad news -- lets not send the golden girl -- send the patsy fall guy Hipkins !

by northman46 | 14th Aug 20, 1:59pm 1597370355

I suppose the community spread and Auckland level 3 lock-down announcement was good news then?

by Foyle | 14th Aug 20, 2:17pm 1597371422

That's very on-form for Jacinda. All those absences from question time when the poo was hitting the fan.

by Foreign buyer | 14th Aug 20, 1:44pm 1597369449

There are two choices:

Stop all flights/ships or have permanent level 2 or 3 until there is a vaccine.

by vman | 14th Aug 20, 2:09pm 1597370946

Is there a prize for guessing what level will be announced this afternoon? (sarc/)

by Fritz | 14th Aug 20, 2:00pm 1597370426

L3. Till next Friday and reviewed.
Cases related to one cluster, and surely even this government know the economic devastation that would come from.L4.

by Cowpat | 14th Aug 20, 1:47pm 1597369634

Jun 9, 2020 " In awe of NZ: How world media reacted to New Zealand In awe of NZ: eliminating Covid-19."..
https://www.nzherald.co.nz › nz › news › article

by guwop | 14th Aug 20, 5:20pm 1597382434

Why do New Zealanders long for this form of international patting-on-the-back over & over again? It was unjustified as usual but why? There must be some cultural/psychological reason for this?

by vman | 14th Aug 20, 1:48pm 1597369730

So if Prime Minister Ardern attends the briefing she is electioneering and gaining an unfair advantage and if she doesn't she is being evasive...

by Boatman | 14th Aug 20, 1:53pm 1597369989

Jacinda knows the spin and BS at these briefings is unravelling , expect her to keep well away .

The Government FAILED to check people arriving here at the airport .

Then they simply did ZERO testing at the Q-centres .

Now these cock-ups are coming home to roost

by Lanthanide | 14th Aug 20, 2:17pm 1597371423

Then they simply did ZERO testing at the Q-centres

This is a lie. Stop repeating it.

by Albert2020 | 14th Aug 20, 3:38pm 1597376286

But it sounds so much for sensational!!! by the way I agree that not doing weekly testing of ALL quarantine management personnel was utterly stupid but as you said ZERO testing is just Trumpian hyperbole....

by Lanthanide | 14th Aug 20, 4:13pm 1597378420

Agreed.

by RickStrauss | 14th Aug 20, 4:47pm 1597380459

What's important is not what's true but how grumpy you are with Cindy.

by Believer1980 | 14th Aug 20, 3:04pm 1597374261

If she attends the good news one and avoids bad news one that is exactly what she is doing.

by vman | 14th Aug 20, 1:55pm 1597370140

One of these quality journos just asked about a soc med post she just saw about someone dieing in a ramen restaurant on Aug 5....nothing like a bit of in depth research.

by Fritz | 14th Aug 20, 2:00pm 1597370457

Quality, eh

by Ron Pol | 14th Aug 20, 1:56pm 1597370219

Still all assuming just "a few weeks"? No one questioning this yet. Sean Hendy's modeling probably is most likely, but the thing with normal distribution and exponential makes the maths tricky. It is possible that it's been about much longer.

Asymptomatic transmission, NZ's perennially limited testing regime (esp asymptomatic), 'surveillance' testing for appearance sake long after likely cases, 'surveillance' testing lacking scientific rigour eg for proper randomisation, minimal symptoms by most people, and a public perception that it was gone, etc, all combine to mean that symptoms may have been non-existent, missed, or put down to minor cold.

In which case Covid could have been quietly wandering about for many weeks, possibly months.

Also, the median incubation period is just that, a median, with a very long tail for some people (though the likelihood becomes a tiny % quite quickly) and it takes a lot longer to present in some people.

If it has been about longer, and if each only passed it to a few people, and some stayed home thinking it was a cold and got better without passing it on, that would make it manageable, but if a super spreader amongst them, maybe not so much.

This is how Melbourne started, and everywhere at the outset, and the US pick-up in Florida/Texas/Calif, all were 'just' a few cases for quite a long time, that's how this thing rolls - before the maths takes over and the long tail of normal distribution flips into exponential growth.

This is not alarmist, it may well have been only a few weeks, that would be great, but we oughtn't assume it was only a few weeks.

by vman | 14th Aug 20, 2:02pm 1597370543

The trouble with L3 is the crazies start drinking earlier and spend more time in their socmed echo chambers and then espousing their thoughts as fact...

by oldbloke1 | 14th Aug 20, 2:10pm 1597371034

I think we see some of that happening here - all those capitalised words!

by northman46 | 14th Aug 20, 2:09pm 1597370966

The Ramen Shop (Newtown, Wellington) posted they've been contacted by a regional public health team member that a person confirmed to have Covid-19 (asymptomatic at the time) dined there on the 5th.

Probably increases the likelihood of level-3 Wellington.

Edit: I should add this hasn't been confirmed by the Government, so maybe take it with a pinch of salt.

by oldbloke1 | 14th Aug 20, 2:11pm 1597371086

It must be true - it was on social media.

by northman46 | 14th Aug 20, 2:20pm 1597371659

Well the warning came from the actual Ramen Shop in question. I doubt they would post the warning for a laugh. Of course it's possible they were pranked.

It's just around the corner from my house, and wife and I frequent it often. Maybe it's easier to dismiss if it only affects others.

by dictator | 14th Aug 20, 2:35pm 1597372505

The health minister is denying this.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/122451728/wellingto…

by northman46 | 14th Aug 20, 3:32pm 1597375967

Update: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/122451728/health-mi…

Confirmed as true, in fact.

by dictator | 14th Aug 20, 2:13pm 1597371229

Still waiting in relation to this one. Assuming it's correct then it will be a few days before test results are complete.

by Clementé | 14th Aug 20, 2:19pm 1597371574

Theres a lot of salt in Ramen

by Pathos | 14th Aug 20, 2:13pm 1597371202

We are so screwed. This is what it feels like to have no control of your life!

by iconoclast | 14th Aug 20, 4:08pm 1597378133

When you have a crisis you wheel out the trouble-shooter head-kicker

Ashleigh Bloomfield is not a head-kicker. He is the wrong person. Far too soft. This morning on NewstalkZB Screaming Skull Hosking was attacking Bloomfield about the lack of action on the Border Tests. Bloomfield replied we don't round people up in NZ. We round up sheep. Too Soft. Too gentle. Too kind

On Monday night Ardern announced they were doing Level 3 on AKL with border controls at Wellsford and Bombay as from mid-day 12:00 pm Tuesday. People were instructed to stay home under Level 3 conditions

At 1:00 pm the next day they were still erecting the border barriers with a few police in attendance
Didn't get going until 2:00 pm

There were queues of cars kilometres long doing the escape rat run

That evening Police Commissioner Coster declared the AKL border controllers were stopping traffic and educating the drivers. Really. Too soft. Educating them?. Should have been issuing instant fines of $1650 a head Victoria and NSW style

by frazz | 14th Aug 20, 2:21pm 1597371694

Exactly.. the only thing to appease some on this site would be for her to resign and move to USA. But they would probably still be angry.

by paashaas | 14th Aug 20, 2:53pm 1597373620

This will happen eventually - a cushy UN role beckons. The path is well trodden ...

by Kezza R | 14th Aug 20, 2:55pm 1597373727

Soon please.

by iconoclast | 14th Aug 20, 2:26pm 1597371971

Have they set up internal border controls below Tokoroa and Taupo yet

by vman | 14th Aug 20, 2:35pm 1597372514

So to summarise:
We should have opened the borders long ago.
We should close the borders to everyone including NZ citizens.
We should follow Australias lead.
At this rate we'll end up like Melbourne.
We should test everyone.
No ones telling me what to do.
We should have locked down Akl immediately.
No ones stopping my democratic right to go to my bach or skiinging Qtown.
The army should have been brought in earlier.
We are facing military rule.
And on it goes...

by Kezza R | 14th Aug 20, 2:49pm 1597373351

& we assumed that the commonsense precautions were actioned.

by Lanthanide | 14th Aug 20, 3:13pm 1597374793

Testing, while incredibly important, is still the last line of defence, because false-negatives exist and it's possible for someone to get a genuine negative and then be immediately infected afterwards anyway.

by Rhumline | 14th Aug 20, 4:52pm 1597380743

by Ron Pol | 14th Aug 20, 2:53pm 1597373596

Excellent! Reminds me of this piece Trevor Noah did on Trump/Fox reactions to Biden's VP selection of Harris, creating a new attack ad for them (at 3:28) based on their response so far: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjWaAmyUUQs.

by sharetrader | 14th Aug 20, 2:43pm 1597372980

Pakuranga College are saying they have not been told about a case

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/300082520/coronavir…

by Kezza R | 14th Aug 20, 2:52pm 1597373545

Chris Hipkins "if you hear it here you know it is a fact that has been verified". Lol good one...

by vman | 14th Aug 20, 2:45pm 1597373112

Not to mention;
I know someone with close connections in Govt.
(Guy who mows lawns at Beehive)
I heard it through a reliable source.
(Social media post)
I work in health.
(I'm a part time nightshift cleaner)
Don't tell anyone,but we are going into full lock down.
(Social media post to thousands)

by Kezza R | 14th Aug 20, 3:23pm 1597375411

We dont need the FB posts telling us the incorrect info, we've just heard that Chris Hipkins is doing it now.

by Fritz | 14th Aug 20, 2:50pm 1597373441

The system is a shambles. Bloomfield wrongly stated Pakuranga College had a case. It was wrongly closed.
How can we have any confidence in these clowns?

by vman | 14th Aug 20, 2:55pm 1597373725

The sooner 'Karen' Collins takes over the better,she has said "I won't allow this jolly virus in NZ,I simply wont allow community transmission....now,if we could just hear this foolproof plan.

by vman | 14th Aug 20, 3:03pm 1597374208

Or perhaps;
We should follow the Swedish model of success(?)
They are a similar society as NZ being a Scandinavian country with high taxes,excellent healthcare and a large group of indigenous people with multiple underlying health conditions living in low socio economic conditions.(sarc/)

by Lanthanide | 14th Aug 20, 3:16pm 1597374984

New Zealand has one of the lowest rates of ventilators in hospitals in the entire OECD. Sweden has amongst the highest and a far better funded and resourced healthcare system than we do.

Options that were available to Sweden were not available to us - and on the contrary options available to us such as persueing a (successful) elimination strategy have not been available in most other countries in the world.

Edit: Oh sorry, didn't see the /sarc. Leaving my reply as-is though.

by vman | 14th Aug 20, 3:20pm 1597375245

I thought I better put in the sarc ;-)

by Pietro | 14th Aug 20, 3:40pm 1597376411

Good interview with Bill Gates on Bloomberg.

Here’s a bit:

“How do you think this all ends?

The innovations in therapeutics will start to cut the death rate, but the true end will come from the spread of natural infections and the vaccine giving us herd immunity. For rich countries, that will be sometime next year, ideally in the first half. We’ll get out of this by the end of 2021.

So we’re going to be OK?

Certainly. We’re lucky this one wasn’t a more fatal disease.“

by Lanthanide | 14th Aug 20, 4:15pm 1597378528

Although to be fair if it were a more fatal disease it would have been treated much more seriously.

Similarly if it mostly killed children rather than the elderly, society everywhere would have acted much much differently.

by guwop | 14th Aug 20, 5:14pm 1597382040

@Pietro, Covid will be on the way out and proof to be a temporary mass hysteria but the erosion of our civilian liberties and privacy will be permanent. THAT is the new normal.

by Beanie | 14th Aug 20, 8:44pm 1597394650

Guwop..
Can you expand for us what the permanent erosion in civil liberties and privacy are?

by guwop | 14th Aug 20, 8:58pm 1597395530

Immobilization.

by Beanie | 14th Aug 20, 9:02pm 1597395724

Permanent? Why do you imagine they want that?

by guwop | 14th Aug 20, 10:30pm 1597401051

Total control on the movements of people. Money will be taken control of by phasing out cash.

You have to zoom out to see the bigger picture. But it is all happening right in front of our eyes.

by Beanie | 15th Aug 20, 7:53am 1597434838

I guess the first step in such a plan would be to secure power by sidestepping democracy otherwise it all falls apart at the ballot box.

When we see control of the media and political parties.... oh f$#@k ...

by eskyrider | 14th Aug 20, 3:06pm 1597374365

Oh dear oh dear oh dear

by Pathos | 14th Aug 20, 3:12pm 1597374767

With reference to Gerry Brownlee's comments about the current situation in a news conference: If Gerry Brownlee won't stand behind his own words the next day - how does he expect anyone else to take him seriously ever again!!?
He could have given National a real platform on which to fight.
Or, is he just a pushover in order to save his own skin?

by Lanthanide | 14th Aug 20, 3:15pm 1597374934

No one should be taking Gerry Brownlee seriously, and by extension, his leader who has confidence in him in that role.

by vman | 14th Aug 20, 3:19pm 1597375145

We need proven leaders who follow through on what they promise,Such as Judith 'crusher' Collins...she crushed one car once in a controlled media beat up.
Or Gerry Built Brownlee,he has a plan to finish what he started 11 years ago to turn Chc into a world leading modern city using one of the worlds iconic building dynasties,Fletchers.

by Pietro | 14th Aug 20, 3:42pm 1597376567

Collins has crushed it once again, National’s poll ratings that is. Crushing does make something smaller, doesn’t it?

by Beanie | 14th Aug 20, 8:47pm 1597394839

I think she would do a great job as one of the floor managers in a quarantine facility. I mean who would try and sneak out with her outside your door?

by Foyle | 14th Aug 20, 3:43pm 1597376617

Good summary piece from Muriel Newman, detailing this outbreak on the back of testing promises not delivered against a background of lies from the pulpit.
https://www.nzcpr.com/covid-disruptions/

by paashaas | 14th Aug 20, 4:20pm 1597378840

excellent piece - a must read.

by Lanthanide | 14th Aug 20, 7:50pm 1597391410

Pity one of the key details is wrong.

Bloomfield was told before 3pm on Tuesday, and the PM just before 4pm on Tuesday.

Bloomfield was not told on Monday as Harman alleges.

by Believer1980 | 14th Aug 20, 4:19pm 1597378747

Some of the communications are plain misleading. Like that all the new cases are connected to the cluster. Well, if you are testing people on the basis that they have been in touch with the original case, offcourse they will be connected sherlock. You need to make sure that these things are clearly spelled out

by Lanthanide | 14th Aug 20, 4:38pm 1597379936

Except they aren't only testing people associated with the current cluster. There were 15,000 tests yesterday, a record number.

People all over Auckland who have COVID-like symptoms are getting tested because its the right thing to do. So far all positive results from amongst those thousands of tests have been directly linked to the index case.

by vman | 14th Aug 20, 4:33pm 1597379639

Apparently 'Merv' just resigned,he may be available to contract to the Govt to school them in the 'National way' of transparent governance.

by WestieAJ | 14th Aug 20, 4:50pm 1597380624

It's like watching a chess game. You can see several moves ahead. What is likely to happen. Gary Kasparov is Covid19 and the MOH/Government is a slightly gifted primary school child. Checkmate in 6 moves.

by guwop | 14th Aug 20, 5:08pm 1597381707

More importantly, how much is in the PowerBall jar these days?

by Hook | 14th Aug 20, 6:19pm 1597385973

Here's some "Breaking News" that no one in the media will know about. Today two people were sent home from a large industrial site in Eastern Bay of Plenty because they accidently admitted that their wives were considered close contacts of the Confirmed cases who holidayed in Rotorua. So if their wives were close contacts and the tracing efforts were working properly (as we are constantly reassured), how did these two people get to go to work in a facility that employs hundreds??