Sunday 22 August 1pm
Today there are 21 new positive cases of Covid-19 in the community, bringing the total number of community cases to 72.
There are five people in hospital, none in ICU.
Of the 21 new cases, 20 are in Auckland, one is in Wellington. There are a total of six cases in Wellington and 66 cases in Auckland.
61 of the cases are confirmed to be linked to the Auckland outbreak. The remainder are under investigation, with likely links.
There are three cases related to the border in MIQ.
Wastewater samples have returned positive results in Auckland and Wellington. Wastewater testing in other parts of the country is negative.
New contact tracing rules
It will become mandatory to scan the Covid-19 Tracer app or sign in manually at most events and businesses at all alert levels.
This applies to places where people gather in large numbers such as cafes, restaurants, bars, casinos, aged care facilities, barbers, libraries, courts, local government agencies, social services and exercise facilities.
“It’s clear that when people use the app or manually sign up rather than relying on their memory contact tracing can happen much more quickly,” said Minister of Covid Response Chris Hipkins. “As we know, particularly in light of what we’re facing with the Delta variant, speed means a lot.”
The obligation will be on the person responsible for the gathering for attendees to sign in.
Locations of interest
There are over 200 locations of interest. See the full list on the Ministry of Health’s website here. The list is being updated every two hours.
A student at Western Springs College and a staff member at Pukekohe High School have reportedly tested positive for Covid-19 bringing the total number of high schools connected to the pandemic to seven. The other schools are Avondale College, McAuley High School, Northcote College, Lynfield College, and De La Salle College.
Petrol stations in Waiouru, Tokoroa and Bulls have been added to the list. All were visited on August 16.
A reminder, if you visited a location of interest at the date and time recorded you need to self-isolate and get a test immediately. Call Helpline on 0800 358 5453 for what to do next. If you went to the location of interest but not at the specified date or time you don't need to get a test.
Contact tracing and vaccinations
One million New Zealanders are fully vaccinated. Yesterday, 52,106 doses of the Pfizer vaccine were given.
Drive-through vaccination centres are being set up to bolster the vaccination programme. The largest of these has been opened in South Auckland with the capacity to deliver 2,000 vaccinations per day. Bookings are needed to attend, register here at Book My Vaccine.
More vaccinations arrived into the country yesterday bringing our stocks to over 750,000 doses.
If you are a close contact and self-isolating at home, you must not get a vaccine. Call and rebook your appointment.
Alert levels
All of New Zealand remains at alert level 4 until at least Tuesday at 11.59pm.
Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins told Jack Tame on Q+A this morning that Aucklanders should be “preparing to be at home a bit longer”.
Cabinet is meeting on Monday to decide on the next move of alert levels, so we’ll have more information on that tomorrow afternoon.
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