These live updates have now concluded for the evening, any further developments can be found on our webpage.
What we know so far:
- 1 NEWS has confirmation that three more Covid cases have been confirmed since the 1.00pm briefing, taking the total to 10.
- Two cases had been announced at today's 1.00pm briefing - linked to the Devonport man. It has been confirmed he has the Delta variant.
- There are a number of locations of interest which are continuously being updated on the Ministry of Health's website . There are locations in both Coromandel and Auckland.
- Unsure what the rules are at level 4? You can visit the Government's official Covid website for all of the information.
8.37pm - An Air New Zealand crew member has tested positive for Covid-19 this evening following a flight from Japan to Aotearoa that landed on Sunday.
In an email sent to staff, Air New Zealand said the crew member tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday as part of their regular surveillance testing of international staff.
The crew member's last duty was flight NZ90 from Narita to Auckland, which arrived on August 15.
In the email, Air New Zealand said the crew member is "well" and is now isolating.
The airline is now working closely with the Ministry of Health to identify whether any other employees may have come into contact with the crew member.
There is no indication at this stage that the Air NZ worker is one of the 10 community cases.
8.05pm - University of Otago microbiologist David Murdoch has told Seven Sharp the level of public exposure to the 10 positive Covid cases is a concern.
“We have a school, we have a hospital, we have a casino, we have a church so yes they are all a concern because of the chance of a much larger outbreak.”
He said it is too early to ascertain if officials can get the outbreak under control, saying in the coming days it will become more clear.
“Anything we can do to stop transmission is good and certainly the use of mask-wearing is an important part of what we are doing,” he said referring the Government’s updated restrictions on mask-wearing.
Murdoch says it's imperative Kiwis "follow the rules" so New Zealand doesn't get into a situation like NSW.
7.04pm - Air New Zealand is now starting to limit domestic flights as the 48-hour grace period for New Zealanders to return home, ends just before midnight tomorrow.
Jacinda Ardern announced Tuesday night that New Zealanders who are not in their place of residence have a 48 hour period for the relocation to occur. The reason, Ardern said was some people in the last lockdown were in "exceptional circumstances" - ie were in the bottom of the country and needed to travel north. But she urged that people should move "quickly".
Air New Zealand says travel is restricted to essential services only.
"Following the 48-hour grace period to get Kiwi's home, Air New Zealand is adjusting its domestic schedule for Friday 20 August – Tuesday 24 August, in line with Alert Level 4 restrictions across the country," the airline said in a statement Wednesday evening.
"The airline will operate a very limited domestic schedule to enable essential travel only. Customers who are booked to travel on Friday will receive a cancellation email, and their bookings will be held in credit.
"Customers will have 12 months from the day their credit is processed to book a flight, and another 12 months to travel.
"During Alert Level 4, travel is restricted to essential services only. Customers who are travelling should check they are eligible to travel under Alert Level 4 on the Government's Covid-19 website, as travel is severely limited. These customers will also need to carry a letter to prove they are travelling for essential purposes.
"Customers who meet the criteria and still wish to travel should call the Air New Zealand Contact Centre who will rebook them free of charge for travel up to and including Tuesday 31 August."
6.45pm - The Ministry of Health has confirmed three new community cases of Covid-19 have emerged in Auckland this afternoon since the 1.00pm briefing.
"These are additional to the seven cases reported previously. This brings the total community cases at this stage to 10. Nine of these cases have been linked to other community cases and the remaining case has been linked to the border," the ministry said in a statement.
Details of the three new cases, who are all in Auckland, are as follows:
- A man in his 20s. This man is the partner of a known case who was reported as a positive case this morning.
- A woman in her 60s. Interviews are underway to determine any link to existing cases. This woman has a connection to the border.
- A woman in her 20s. She has a connection with another case reported today.
In addition, two cases announced at 1.00pm today have now been linked to existing cases.
- A teenage woman who was a close contact of a case reported today.
- A man in his 20s who visited the household where three of the cases reported today reside.
"Movements of all cases reported continue to be investigated. Investigations also continue at Auckland City Hospital, where one of the cases worked for four shifts during their infectious period.
"Additional locations of interest identified have been added to Ministry’s website this afternoon. These include Sky City Casino, Avondale College, several Auckland supermarkets, bars and cafes."
This list will be updated progressively as further locations of interest are identified, the ministry said.
"The key message from the last lockdown remains relevant: ‘stay at home, save lives, be kind. If you have symptoms or have been at a location of interest, get a test. This will help stop any undetected spread in the community.
"Only leave your home if you need to, and please wear a mask when you do."
6.24pm - An updated list of locations of interest has been released by the Ministry of Health:
St Pierre's Sushi
Auckland CBD 20 Elliot Street, Central, Auckland, 1010
Tuesday 10 August, 1.00 pm - 1.15 pm
Avondale College 51 Victor Street, Avondale, Auckland 1026
Thursday 12 August, 8.45 am - 3.15 pm
Glasscorp Limited Albany 124 Bush Road, Rosedale, Auckland 0632
Thursday 12 August, 12.30 pm - 1.00 pm
Unique Hardware Rosedale 1/16 Arrenway Drive, Rosedale, Auckland 0632
Thursday 12 August, 12.30 pm - 1.00 pm
Avondale College 51 Victor Street, Avondale, Auckland 1026
Friday 13 August, 8.45 am - 3.15 pm
Central Auckland Church of Christ 52 Hepburn Street, Freemans Bay, Auckland 1011
Sunday 15 August, 10.15 am - 12.02 pm
Avondale College 51 Victor Street, Avondale, Auckland 1026
Monday 16 August, 8.45 am - 12.00 pm
Remuera Exchange 2A Dilworth Avenue, Remura, Auckland 1050
Tuesday 17 August, 1.33 pm - 1.35 pm
5.30pm - Three additional community cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed since the 1.00pm briefing, taking the total cluster to 10.
One of those cases is a student at AUT - that student was at the city campus between 11.30am and 1.00pm on Tuesday and attended a Social Institutions lecture in the large lecture hall, WG403.
AUT said in a statement to students and staff 84 other people attended the lecture.
The Ministry of Health is expected to give a statement shortly.
"We're seeing more cases coming through, I don't have details of those cases. But yes, I can confirm that we have further positive test results since the press conference today," Chris Hipkins told RNZ earlier.
Hipkins also said it was "almost certain" the 58-year-old man is not the index case connected to the border.
"Almost certain they were given Covid-19 by someone else. What we're trying to do is identify how many steps in that chain of transmission there are before we got to the Devonport case."
5.14pm - More locations of interest have been added by the Ministry of Health:
BP Northcote
50 Northcote Road, Northcote, Auckland 0627
Sunday 15 August, 7.15 pm - 7.30 pm
Green Bay Takeaways
56B Godley Road, Green Bay, Auckland 0604
Monday 16 August, 4.00 pm - 4.15 pm
Passion Bakery
34 Birkdale Road, Birkdale, Auckland 0626
Monday 16 August, 12.45 pm - 1.15 pm
Countdown Birkenhead
Cnr Highbury Pass & Birkenhead Ave, Birkenhead, 0626
Monday 16 August, 12.30 pm - 12.45 pm
Warehouse New Lynn
7/13 Rata Street, New Lynn, Auckland 0600
Monday 16 August, 7.45 an - 8.15am
Countdown Birkenhead
Cnr Highbury Pass & Birkenhead Ave, Birkenhead, 0626
Monday 16 August, 7.00 am - 7.15 am
4:52pm - The Ministry of Health has added new locations of interest in Auckland related to the Covid-19 outbreak in the community. They are:
Crumb Grey Lynn
Ariki Street, Grey Lynn, Auckland, 1021
Thursday 12 August, 10.00 am - 10.10 am
Sweat Shop Brew Kitchen
7 Sale Street, Freemans Bay, Auckland CBD, 1010
Friday 13 August, 9.00 pm - 12.00 am
Denny's CBD
51 Hobson Street Auckland CBD, 1010
Friday 13 August, 1.00 am - 1.30 am
Bar 101
18 Elliott Street, Auckland CBD, Auckland 1010
Friday 13 August, 11.33 pm - 1.15 am
Sky City Casino
72 Victoria Street West Auckland Central
Saturday 14 August, 1.15 am - 3.00 am
Pak n Save Wairau Road
30 Wairau Road, Wairau Valley, Auckland 0627
Saturday 14 August, 3.20 pm - 3.50 pm
Devonport Pharmacy Devonport
33 Victoria Road, Devonport, Auckland 0624
Monday 16 August, 2.15 pm - 2.30 pm
4.43pm - The Waikato DHB have released Covid-19 vaccination statistics to 1 NEWS for the region - including the Coromandel.
Almost 39 per cent of the Thames-Coromandel population (based on GP enrollments) have received at least their first jab. This is the highest rate in the Waikato DHB area, a spokesperson said.
In the neighbouring Hauraki District, 29.5 per cent have received at least their first vaccination. A total of 180,745 vaccinations have been delivered across the Waikato region to date.
The Waikato DHB said testing centres remain in Coromandel Town and Thames while a site is also open in Whitianga. A bunch of medical centres are also open for tests.
4.35pm - John Salud, the Deacon at Auckland Central Church for Christ, says 100 people were at the service attended by the one of the cases on Sunday morning.
He told 1 NEWS that he and his wife chatted to the woman confirmed to have contracted the virus, and her boyfriend, after the service for about 10 mins. He and his wife got tested on Wednesday.
Aside from the notice on the church’s Facebook page, he says the church is using email and WhatsApp group to contact members.
4.08pm - ProCare, New Zealand’s largest network of primary healthcare professionals has today reminded Aucklanders that many general practices are still open, despite the move to Alert Level 4 in the early hours of the morning.
A number of practices will also be open in order to swab test patients for COVID-19.
Bindi Norwell, Group CEO at ProCare says: "Most general practices will have moved to virtual or over the phone consulting now that we’re in Alert Level 4; but many are still open for activities that can’t be conducted online such as cancer screening, delivering childhood immunisations or testing for Covid-19.
"It’s essential that if people need medical attention that they reach out to their general practice by phoning ahead and finding out what support is available," she points out.
"Last time the country was in Alert Level 4, people held off from seeking treatment, and then in some instances found themselves in a worse place down the track because they delayed seeking initial treatment. We would be very disappointed to see this happen again, and think it’s really important that we take all of the learnings from the last lockdown and apply them now that we find ourselves in lockdown again," says Norwell.
"Patients can be assured that practices have all the appropriate precautions in place to protect them, so there is no need to stay away from their doctor’s surgery."
3.38pm - Close contacts of the man (Case A) at the centre of the current Covid Delta outbreak in the Auckland community have been “out and about” a lot according to Director General of Health, Dr Ashley Bloomfield. So far two locations have been identified, - the Auckland Central Church of Christ in Freeman's Bay and Sky City casino.
This afternoon the church and Sky City issued statements saying they were working with the Ministry of Health and following their directions.
“Today at 1.30pm we were advised by Auckland Regional Public Health that a customer who visited the SkyCity Auckland precinct on the night of Saturday 14th of August has tested positive for Covid-19, Sky City’s statement said.
“The health and wellbeing of SkyCity’s employees and customers is paramount and we have robust contact tracing protocols in place to be able to respond rapidly.
“We are awaiting information from the Auckland Public Health unit that will assist us in reviewing our systems, including surveillance footage from the period that the customer was on site.”
The Church of Christ offered a similar statement.
“The Church of Christ have been advised by the Ministry of Health that we have been listed as a location of interest with regards to a close contact that has tested positive for COVID. We are working closely with the MOH to follow all directions given to us- isolation, social distancing and testing if/when instructed as of now.
“If you were a visitor Sunday 15th 10am service and you have not already been contacted by us, please advise the MOH 0800 358 5453 ASAP to be advised on how to keep safe.”
2.32pm - He says he knows with Delta "the risks are higher" hence enforcement will be leaned into "more than" other lockdowns - he says "we just can't have crowds of people gathering" but also acknowledges most around the country have been "really good" at compliance.
2.30pm - Coster says police have the ability to enforce breaches to lockdown restrictions including arresting people for example - for failing to wear a mask.
2.26pm - Coster says there have been protests over lockdown in Nelson, Tauranga and Auckland today. Four people have been arrested in Tauranga and four arrested in Auckland. Billy Te Kahika has reportedly been arrested after attending an anti-lockdown protest outside TVNZ. Coster said police had given “plenty of opportunity” for the crowds outside TVNZ to disperse but when they didn’t, they were arrested.
2.21pm - Police Commissioner Andy Coster says police have turned around a large number people appearing to head to holiday destinations.
2.04pm - Ardern says having the vaccine will protect people threefold, according to the CDC. She says having the vaccine will make a difference and will mean people are less likely to catch Covid, less likely to get sick "or die". She says people who have been vaccinated still need to be careful because breakthrough infections can occur in those fully vaccinated.
2.00pm - Vaccinations in some sites will start this afternoon but from 8.00am tomorrow - all vaccination sites will be operating under Level 4 conditions across the country. Ardern says it means there won't be as many people coming through to enable social distancing and safety. She says if anyone is booked for a vaccine in the next three days and "haven't heard anything" people should still go. Those aged 40 plus can proceed to make bookings for a vaccine from today on the Book My Vaccine website.
On Tuesday a daily record of 55,688 vaccine doses were administered. This includes 35,499 first doses, and 20,189 second doses.
1.57pm - Ardern says from 11.50pm tonight, those aged 12 and over will need to wear a mask when visiting essential services like supermarkets and service stations. That goes for those who work in these facilites as well. Bus terminals and taxis are also places where mask-wearing is essential.
1.55pm - Ardern says 633 cases have reported in NSW today, 92 were in the community while infected. She says Level 4 restrictions are in place in New Zealand to make our lockdown "as short as possible".
SHARE ME