143 new Covid-19 cases in community outbreak today

October 31, 2021
CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND - AUGUST 21: A health worker wears personal protective equipment (PPE) at the Pages Road drive through Covid-19 Testing Centre on August 21, 2021 in Christchurch, New Zealand. All of New Zealand is subject to Alert Level 4 restrictions until at least 11:59 pm Tuesday, August 24 as health authorities work to contain a new community COVID-19 outbreak that originated in Auckland. Under COVID-19 Alert Level 4 measures, people are required to stay at home in their bubble other than for essential reasons, with travel severely limited. All non-essential businesses are closed, including bars, restaurants, cinemas and playgrounds. All indoor and outdoor events are banned, while schools have switched to online learning. Essential services remain open, including supermarkets and pharmacies. (Photo by Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images)

There are 143 new Covid-19 cases in the community on Sunday, made up of 135 in Auckland, six in Waikato and two in Northland, the Ministry of Health has confirmed.

The ministry says the "reported number of cases in Auckland is not unexpected and is line with modelling to date". 

There are no new community cases to report in Christchurch on Sunday, and one previously reported case in Christchurch has been reclassified as a historical case following serology results. 

That means the total number of cases in Christchurch since this outbreak began in August is now four.

There are also no new cases to report at the Edmonton Meadows rest home in Auckland's Henderson.

It comes after seven residents and a staff member were reported with the virus on Saturday, after one resident was confirmed with Covid-19 on Friday.

However, in an update on Sunday, the ministry said two residents with Covid-19 had been transferred to hospital for care.

"Auckland Regional Public Health Service and Waitemata  DHB staff are supporting the residents and staff at the privately-owned facility," the ministry said.

Meanwhile, the two new Northland cases that were announced on Saturday but are being formally added to the official tally on Sunday, the ministry said.

In Waikato, of the six new cases, two are from Hamilton, one is from Ōtorohanga, two are from the Te Awamutu/Kihikihi area and one is from Kawhia.

So far, five of the six reported cases have been linked to the current outbreak.

As at 10am on Sunday, 70 of the new cases are linked to the current Delta outbreak, including 44 household contacts.

The remaining 73 are under investigation to find a link.

The total number of cases in this Delta outbreak is now 3348, of which 1625 have recovered.

There are now 56 people with Covid-19 in hospital, including two in intensive care or a high dependency unit.

Health Minister Andrew Little spoke about the drug on Q+A with Jack Tame. (Source: Other)

There are 21 at Auckland City Hospital, 17 at Middlemore Hospital, 17 at Waitemata Hospital and one at Waikato Hospital.

The average age of people with Covid-19 in hospital is 47.

There are 3099 contacts linked to this outbreak, of which 78 per cent have been contacted and 77 per cent have received at least one test.

As of 10am on Sunday, there were 408 locations of interest on the Ministry of Health's website, including five new exposure sites.

On Saturday, 29,514 Covid-19 tests were processed, including 8130 in Auckland.

In total, more than 4.09 million tests for Covid-19 have been processed since the pandemic began.

"Anyone with symptoms is asked to please get tested even if they are vaccinated," the ministry said.

Those in Huntly have been specifically asked to get tested for the virus if they have symptoms, though, after Covid-19 was unexpectedly detected in wastewater. There are currently no known Covid-19 cases in the town.

"Public Health staff are asking residents of Huntly with symptoms to get tested – no matter how mild their symptoms may be. The advice is the same even if people are vaccinated," the ministry said.

On vaccines, 42,617 jabs were administered across the country on Saturday, made up of 10,703 first doses and 31,914 second doses.

In total, more than 6.84 million Covid-19 vaccinations have been administered in New Zealand to date.

"Yesterday, two vaccination milestones were reached with 75 per cent of eligible New Zealanders now fully vaccinated and Auckland now has reached 80 per cent fully vaccinated," the ministry said.

"The Ministry would like to remind anyone who hasn't been vaccinated, to not delay doing so wherever you are in the country.

"It's safe, will help to stop you and your loved ones getting seriously ill, and could save your life and theirs."

There were no new border cases to report on Sunday.

The total number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand is now 6068 since the pandemic began.

Sunday's update comes after a record 160 new community cases in New Zealand on Saturday.

Auckland and parts of Waikato are at Alert Level 3, with the rest of the country at Level 2.

Meanwhile, after Tonga reported its first Covid-19 case as a traveller from Christchurch on Friday, the ministry said in an update on Sunday that four household contacts of the person have been traced, are in isolation and have returned an initial negative result.

Two close contacts are in isolation at home in Christchurch and two in Porirua.

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