New Zealanders continue to cope with Lockdown four on Day Five

Supplied Content
Wellington, August 22, 2021

Key things to note:

There are 21 new cases of Covid-19 in the New Zealand community today, there are 3 also new cases in managed isolation.
Yesterday, 38,389 tests were processed across New Zealand.
Environmental Science Research (ESR) is today reporting wastewater detections in Auckland and Wellington.
Record keeping will be mandatory in some businesses and locations, for everyone aged 12 and over.
Workers who have children aged up to 13-years-old can now access free childcare.
Over one million New Zealanders have now been fully vaccinated
Drive-through vaccination centres are being stood up around the country
The observation period after Covid-19 vaccinations will now be a minimum of 15 minutes instead of 20 minutes.
Parents or guardians who are eligible can now book for children aged 12 – 15 years in their families.
A new factsheet about access to food and essential items has been released

Community cases

With 21 cases in the community today, the total number of community cases is now at 72.
Of the 21 new cases, 20 are in Auckland and one is in Wellington.
All cases have or are being transferred safely to a managed isolation facility, under strict infection prevention and control procedures, including the use of full PPE.
Of the 72 cases, 61 cases are now confirmed as part of the Auckland cluster, with the remaining 11 under investigation
ESR has completed sequencing for 17 of these cases, including the three Wellington cases reported yesterday, and found all have genome links to the Auckland August Delta outbreak.

Testing and wastewater update

Yesterday, 38,389 tests were processed across New Zealand.
Just over 20,000 swabs were taken across Auckland
There are 15 community testing centres available for testing across Auckland, including a new site at Pukekohe.
There are also four testing centres which are invitation only for close contacts of high-risk groups.
In Wellington, around 4033 tests were processed yesterday with 11 community testing centres operational over the weekend.
Covid-19 was detected in wastewater taken from a sample from Moa Point in Wellington yesterday.
Samples taken from other sites in Wellington at Porirua, Seaview and Karori were negative.
There continues to be Covid-19 detected in wastewater in the Auckland region based on samples which were taken on Friday.
The virus was not detected on the North Shore – from either Rosedale and Albany – for the first time this week.
There were no unexpected detections anywhere else in the country

Contact tracing update

The number of contacts has increased significantly, which was expected.
As of 9 am today, 8667 individual contacts have been identified
Of these contacts, 4124 have been contacted and are self-isolating, and a third have had a test.
Work is underway to contact the remaining 4500 contacts.

Locations of interest

From today, locations of interest will be updated automatically on a two-hourly basis.
A new search feature on the locations of interest website will make it easier for people to check locations relevant to them.
Anyone who has been at a location of interest during the relevant date and time are instructed to follow the directions on the website for that location and call Healthline on 0800-3585453.
If they were not at the location of interest at the relevant time, they do not need to be tested.

Mandatory record-keeping

Record keeping will be mandatory in some businesses and locations, for everyone aged 12 and over.
They will be required to have systems and processes in place to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that people scan the QR code for the place or gathering or provide details in a contact tracing record.
Places, where it will be mandatory to ensure records are kept, will include cafes, restaurants, bars, casinos and concerts, aged care, healthcare facilities (excluding patients), barbers, exercise facilities, nightclubs, libraries, courts, local and central government agencies, and social services providers with customer service counters.
This will become effective seven days after any change in Alert Level settings that might allow more businesses to open or gatherings to go ahead.

Childcare for Alert Level 4 workers

Workers who have children aged up to 13-years-old can now access free childcare.
A list of 32 providers, with national coverage, will be available for parents to contact.
These providers may offer options for childcare under the scheme either in the child’s home, or in the carer’s home.
To access a provider, parents can go to the Ministry of Education’s

Vaccination update

Over one million New Zealanders have now been fully vaccinated
75 million doses have been administered so far, and there are 1.5M active bookings in the Book My Vaccine system
We are on track to give everyone who is eligible in Aotearoa the opportunity to be vaccinated by the end of the year.
Drive-through vaccination centres are being stood up around the country as DHBs implement their Alert Level 4 plans.
The observation period after Covid-19 vaccinations will now be a minimum of 15 minutes instead of 20 minutes.
Parents or guardians who are eligible can now book for children aged 12 – 15 years in their families.

Resources

Today’s message grid from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC) providing updates on:
- New community cases
- Testing
- Wastewater testing
- Contact tracing
- Locations of interest
- Mandatory record keeping
- Childcare of AL4 workers
- Police sentiment
- MIQ
- Domestic travel window
- Travel exemptions
- Food and supplies
- Advice for at-risk people
- Support for older people
- Face coverings
- Healthcare at AL4
- Travel at AL4
- NZ COVID Tracer
- Vaccine
- QFT
The Ministry for Ethnic Communities have released videos that outline the Golden Rules of Living at Alert Level 4. You can watch these in Arabic, Cantonese, Farsi, Hindi, Mandarin, Portuguese, Punjabi, Spanish, Tagalog, and Urdu.
The Ministry for Pacific Peoples have created videos about the Delta variant and the specific challenges that it poses. You can watch these videos in Cook Islands Maori, Fijian, Kiribati, Niuean, Rotuman, Samoan, Tongan, Tokelauan, and Tuvaluan.