Nine new Covid-19 cases recorded in the community today

August 21, 2020

Dr Ashley Bloomfield provided the update on Friday August 21. (Source: Other)

There are nine new cases of Covid-19 in the community today.

Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said five of the cases were linked to different churches in South Auckland, while the remaining four were household contacts.

This morning, 223 possible contacts of those churches had been identified, with 170 of those already tested with results pending.

Dr Bloomfield also confirmed there were two new imported cases of the virus today - a woman in her 30s from London via Hong Kong who arrived in New Zealand on August 15, and a man in his 50s who arrived from Bozrah via Dubai and Sydney between August 16 and 17. 

The 11 new cases bring New Zealand's confirmed cases of the virus since the pandemic began to 1315.

There are currently 105 active cases of the virus, of which 16 are from managed isolation facilities.

There are eight people in hospitals with the illness, made up of two at Auckland City Hospital, one in North Shore Hospital and five at Middlemore Hospital. Seven people are in a stable condition and one person is in intensive care at Middlemore Hospital.

This comes as investigators narrow in on public transport as a possible link to one of Auckland's mystery cases. (Source: Other)

"An additional person in Waikato Hospital was hospitalised but not as a direct result of Covid-19," Dr Bloomfield said.

Anyone being treated for the virus in hospital is isolated from other patients.

Now, 143 people linked to the Auckland community cluster have been moved into the Auckland quarantine facility, including 70 people who have tested positive. 

Of the 89 confirmed cases in the community, 88 have been linked to the Auckland cluster and one remains under investigation.

"The possibility that the Rydges maintenance worker, who is not connected to the larger cluster as you know, contracted the virus after being in the lift shortly after a hotel guest remains one important line of investigation," Dr Bloomfield said.

Yesterday's St Luke's mall worker who was confirmed with the coronavirus has now been confirmed to be linked to the cluster with genome testing, however how the person became infected is still being investigated.

"One specific inquiry is that this case and another case may have been on the same bus," Dr Bloomfield said.

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