126 new Covid-19 community cases in NZ today

November 2, 2021

There are 126 new Covid-19 cases in the community on Tuesday, made up of 107 in Auckland, 18 in Waikato and one in Northland, the Ministry of Health has confirmed.

There are no new community cases in Christchurch.

Of the new cases, two further staff members at Edmonton Meadows care home in Auckland's Henderson have now tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of active cases at the rest home to 12.

Two of the Covid-positive residents are receiving care at North Shore Hospital.

"The care home continues to operate under Alert Level 3 guidelines for visitors, meaning people have only been able to visit the facility on compassionate grounds," the ministry said.   

The source of the infection in the facility remains unknown.

The one new Northland case, in Kaitaia, is a household member of the Northland case announced on Monday. 

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This brings the region's total number of cases in this outbreak to 14, with three people now recovered.

"All of the cases in Northland are isolating at home with public health oversight," the ministry said.

Of the 18 Waikato cases, six in Hamilton, five in Te Awamutu/Kihikihi, four in Otorohanga, two in Ngaruawahia and one in Kawhia. 

All cases have been epidemiologically linked, including 14, who were known contacts of previously reported cases, were already in isolation.

Meanwhile, two community cases reported on Monday were incorrectly classified and have been removed from the total community case count and added to the cases at the border.

As well, one previously reported community case has been confirmed as a historical case and one case was an MIQ worker which has been classified as a community case after investigation.

These changes mean the total number of cases in this Delta outbreak is now 3634, of which 1704 have recovered.

So far, 67 of the new cases are linked to the current Delta outbreak, with the remaining 59 under investigation to find a link.

"The Ministry is also aware of a small number of Covid-19 cases in Auckland in Corrections custody," the ministry said.

"These people were exposed to Covid-19 prior to coming into custody and are being managed appropriately to avoid any potential for the virus to spread to the prison population. There is no evidence of in-facility transmission to date."

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There are now 49 people with Covid-19 in hospital, down from 53 on Monday, including three in intensive care or a high dependency unit.

There are 19 at Auckland City Hospital, 17 at North Shore Hospital, 12 at Middlemore Hospital and one at Waikato Hospital.

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

There are 3397 contacts linked to this outbreak, of which 75 per cent have been contacted and 74 per cent have received at least one test.

As of 10am on Tuesday, there were 360 locations of interest on the Ministry of Health's website, including one new exposure site.

On Monday, 18,032 Covid-19 tests were processed, including 14,910 in Auckland.

In total, more than 4.13 million tests for Covid-19 have been processed since the pandemic began.

"Testing numbers across Auckland remain strong and public health staff are focussing on testing in areas with higher positivity rates," the ministry said.

"People who have symptoms, no matter how mild, are being asked to get a test, especially if they live in the suburbs of Redvale, Rosedale, New Lynn, Wiri, Drury, Henderson and Manurewa. 

"Even if people are vaccinated, they should get a test if they have symptoms that might be Covid-19."

As well, the ministry urged anyone in Canterbury to get tested following recently reported cases and Covid-19 wastewater detections. Test results from additional wastewater samples collected in Christchurch are expected on Wednesday.

"To respond to the increase in demand for testing, Canterbury DHB has increased its testing capacity - with additional staff, extended operating hours at some testing centres."

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On vaccines, 27,473 jabs were administered across the country on Monday, made up of 7187 first doses and 20,286 second doses.

In total, more than 6.89 million Covid-19 vaccinations have been administered in New Zealand to date.

"There were 27,473 vaccines administered yesterday, taking New Zealand’s vaccination rate to 88 per cent for first doses and 76 per cent for second doses - representing 3,179,817 fully vaccinated New Zealanders," the ministry said.

"Getting vaccinated will help to stop people from becoming seriously ill from Covid-19 and will save lives."

There were also three new border cases to report on Tuesday.

The total number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand is now 6362 since the pandemic began.

Tuesday's update comes after a record 162 new community cases on Monday.

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

But on Monday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Auckland and the parts of Waikato at Level 3 would move to step 2 of Level 3, with Waikato moving at 11.59pm today (Tuesday) and Auckland a week later.

There has been no significant update on the Tonga case, who travelled from Christchurch.

"Investigations into the case in Tonga continue there, including determining whether the person is a possible historical case," the ministry said.

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