Ahead of Cabinet’s alert level decision on Monday, the Prime Minister acknowledges higher case numbers may create anxiety, saying Delta’s tail is “long and it is hard”.
It comes as 24 new Covid-19 cases were announced in the community on Sunday in the 1pm briefing led by Director of Public Health Caroline McElnay and Jacinda Ardern.
Ardern said of Sunday’s cases, there was one with a tentative link and two more who are awaiting interviews.
“So really what we are seeing is the ongoing ramifications of Delta being highly infectious and it infecting people across households, sometimes in a domino effect.
“We might have had a positive case days and days ago but slowly those family members who have become infected come through as positives.
“I know that is really anxious-making for people when they see those numbers. They don’t always tell the full story but it does tell us Delta’s tail is long and it is hard,” Ardern said.
McElnay was reassuring, saying health officials are “cautiously optimistic that actually the vast bulk of this outbreak is under control, we are just dealing with a long tail”.
Ardern acknowledged the work of Aucklanders, saying it “has paid off”.
“We do not have large-scale community transmission in Auckland.
“Level 4 has played an incredibly important role of getting that outbreak under control. Yes we still have cases popping up, there’s still work for us to do,” she said.
Ardern said “we absolutely factor in how Aucklanders are coping with some of the restrictions we have had to date but also the best way for us to get back to normal as quickly as we can”.
She ruled out an alert level change to Level 3 for Auckland and Level 1 for the remainder of the country, saying she had already said that it “poses risk”.
Ardern cited stories “over the course of the week” where people have tried to get around border checks.
SHARE ME