Wellington, September 2, 2021
Key things to note:
Northland moves to Alert Level 3 at 11:59 pm tonight (September 2, 2021). Auckland remains at Alert Level 4 with the rest of New Zealand, south of the Auckland Alert Level 4 boundary stays at Alert Level 3.
Whanau Ora to receive $23 million to help with the current Covid-19 response, providing direct and integrated support to hard to reach whānau who present with complex and overlapping needs.
Employees’ rights
Workers who can operate at Alert Level 4 are advised to let their employer know if they have symptoms or have been at a location of interest. They should stay at home, ring Healthline for advice on getting a test, and isolate in their bubble until a negative result has been returned. Authorities are putting in place a system to test workers who are regularly travelling between the Auckland region and Alert Level 3 areas.
Visit Unite Against COVID-19 for updated advice on viewings of tupapaku at Alert Level4 as well as viewings, funerals, tangihanga and burials at Alert Level 3.
Learning Recognition Credits
Ministry of Education has re-introduced Learning Recognition Credits to support New Zealand’s National Certificates of Educational Achievement (NECA) students whose learning and preparation have been disrupted by Covid-19 lockdowns. Adjustments have been made to NCEA endorsements and University Entrance.
A community case staying at the Novotel & Ibis Ellerslie quarantine facility absconded in the early hours of the morning. The individual has since been located by Police. The Ministry of Health, support by Police, have begun the work to understand the person’s movements outside of the facility.
The worker who tested positive at Spring Hill Corrections has returned negative results from subsequent tests with investigations continuing.
North-South Boundaries
North and South boundaries of Auckland at Alert Level 4: Operational planning is well advanced ahead of the Alert Level change for Northland, and Police will begin setting up these northern checkpoints from early this evening.
Police are pleased with the overall compliance at the South Auckland border checkpoints. Between 11.59 pm on August 31, 2021 and 3.30 pm on September 1, 2021, a total of 3059 vehicles were stopped at the five south Auckland checkpoints. Only 114 vehicles were turned away for non-essential travel, which is less than four percent of all motorists.
St Margaret’s Rest Home case
Late yesterday (September 1, 2021), it was confirmed that a worker in the dementia unit at St. Margaret’s Rest Home returned a positive test result.
The worker has received one dose of the vaccine and worked one and a half shifts on August 26 and 29, 2021 while unknowingly infectious.
Testing of patients and staff in the dementia unit is underway with a mobile testing unit is operating at the CHT St Margaret’s in Te Atatu. Staff who worked closely with the positive case have been identified and are in self-isolation.
The dementia unit houses 19 residents of whom 15 of have been fully vaccinated. Two have recently received one dose and are waiting a second. The remaining two are yet to be vaccinated.
Cases and monitoring
There are no new unexpected detections of Covid-19 in wastewater to report. Northland wastewater testing has come back negative.
There are 49 new cases of Covid-19, all in Auckland for a total of 736 cases. 720 are in Auckland and 16 are in Wellington. There are 4 new cases identified at the border.
Of the current community cases, 42 cases are in hospital, 36 are in a stable condition on a ward and six cases are in a stable condition in ICU.
ESR has sequenced approximately 75% of notified outbreak cases to date. This analysis gives an increasingly clearer picture of the pattern of spread in and within the community. 37,359 individual contacts have been identified. 30,283 of these contacts, or 81% have been followed up by contact tracers and are self-isolating.
Around 86% of all contacts identified have had a test.
Yesterday 17,683 Covid tests were processed across New Zealand with 6700 of those tests taken in Auckland. Our 7-day rolling average is 24,222.
Vaccination Update
There is a wide range of places you can be vaccinated, including drive-through centres, marae-based centres, general practices, community pharmacies and Pacific providers.
You may be able to book directly at your local general practice, community pharmacy, or hauora provider – to find out visit www.healthpoint.co.nz or www.karawhiua.nz.
The second dose mass vaccination event in Manukau Auckland on 10, 11 and 12 September will now take place at the drive through vaccination centre at the Airport Park and Ride. People who do not have access to a car can call 0800 28 29 26 to find an option for their second dose that works best for them.
Yesterday, 89,546 doses were administered (62,218 first doses and 27,328 second doses).
There were 197,596 new bookings yesterday – this means 70 percent of all New Zealanders aged 12 and over are now either booked in our have been vaccinated with at least one dose.
Maori: 1st doses: 215,248; 2nd doses: 110,762
Pacific Peoples: 1st doses:138,733; 2nd doses: 75,578
As of September 1, 2021, 3.59 million doses of the vaccine have been administered with 1.23 million of New Zealanders fully vaccinated. 2.35 million people have had their first dose.
More than 24,000 essential workers have had their first vaccination.
Source: Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Wellington
