There are 49 Covid-19 community cases to report on Friday, none of which are Omicron, the Ministry of Health says.
The community cases were detected in Auckland (22), Waikato (three), Bay of Plenty (19), Lakes (four), and Hawke’s Bay (one).
Additionally, 10 cases at the border were identified as being the Omicron variant. It brings the total number of Omicron cases identified at the border to 88.
There are no new Omicron cases in the community.
It comes after it was announced that two Omicron cases had been in the community: British DJ Robert Etheridge and an Air New Zealand flight crew member.
On Friday, the Ministry of Health said the six close contacts of Etheridge who attended the Hidden Lakes Festival in Christchurch had all tested negative for Covid-19.
“This means there was no public health risk associated with this event,” the Ministry of Health said.
Contact tracing has identified 88 close contacts of the DJ. Of those, 80 had been contacted, are isolating, and have been tested.
All results received to date have been negative for the virus.
“Contact tracers are working urgently to contact the eight close contacts who are yet to be reached,” the ministry said.
“Microbiologists have advised that the risk of transmission from this case is low.”
Meanwhile, all eight close contacts of the Air NZ crew member have returned negative Covid-19 tests.
There are no locations of interest related to the crew member, so the Ministry of Health has deemed the person’s risk to public health is low.
In the past 24 hours, 15,449 Covid-19 tests have been processed.
As of Friday, there were 46 people in hospital and eight people in an intensive care or high dependency unit.
All of Waikato’s three new cases were found in Ātiamuri. All are linked to previously-reported cases.
In the Bay of Plenty, 17 of the 19 cases are in Tauranga and the rest are in Western Bay of Plenty.
Ten of the cases are linked to known cases, and investigations are underway for the rest.
Of the four cases in Lakes DHB, two are in the Rotorua area and two are in Taupō. Two of the cases are linked to previously-reported cases and two are being investigated.
Meanwhile, investigations continue into the Covid-19 case first reported in Napier on Thursday.
Public health authorities are trying to establish if the person has any links to any previous cases.
A second case has been identified in Hawke’s Bay - a close contact of the first. This was identified after the Ministry of Health’s cut-off time and will be included in Saturday’s numbers.
All of the person’s known close contacts have been identified and are isolating and getting tested.
There were 13 new cases detected at the border.
On Thursday, 60 new Covid-19 cases were detected in the community.
Changes to genome sequencing
The ministry is changing the way it is prioritising genome sequencing for international arrivals and border workers who test Covid-positive.
It said it previously prioritised whole genome sequencing for cases among arrivals, “in particular where individuals were undertaking three days in self-isolation”.
“However, now that all international arrivals are required to complete a full 10 days in a managed isolation facility and return a negative day nine test before release, the risk of community transmission of the Omicron variant from these cases is deemed to be low.
“Samples from international arrivals will still be dealt with in a timely manner and tested no later than 48 hours of a sample being received.”
The Ministry of Health said it was assuming all recent arrivals who test positive have Omicron.
Because of this, it was now going to prioritise genome sequencing for cases among border workers and their families.
“This is where there is the greatest risk of Omicron entering the community. This new approach will help to ensure the risk of any community transmission of Omicron remains low.
“These samples will be treated as urgent and tested within 12 hours of being received by the laboratory.”
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