Covid 19 coronavirus: two new cases as Auckland prepares to get out of lockdown

There are two new cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand today, according to Public Health Director Caroline McElnay.

The numbers come as Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern thanked the residents of Aucklanders, who came out of lockdown tonight, but also urged them to “move on” and do their part to keep the virus contained.

And he also had a caveat: New Zealand will raise alert levels again if necessary.

Ardern also expressed anger at the failed test communications. Despite official advice issued on the government’s Covid-19 Facebook page last night, he said that everyone in South and West Auckland did not need to get tested.

Both new cases belong to the community and are linked to the Auckland group. One is a household contact of one of the already infected people.

The other is related to a Tokoroa case: they worked in a medical center. That center is closed while it is being cleaned. There are two other sites open in Tokoroa.

The person lived alone and has no household contacts.

There are 10 people with Covid-19 currently hospitalized in New Zealand, two are in the ICU.

There are 136 active cases in New Zealand, 117 in the community.

That means there have been 1,378 Covid-19 cases in New Zealand and 750,000 tests to date.

McElnay urged people who are advised to get tested for Covid-19 to do so. The tests are free.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said there were still cases in the Auckland group.

“We hope that continues.”

He said the queue for this group “will be long.”

Ardern said 268,000 tests had been conducted since the group was identified and that 2,475 people had been contacted since the new outbreak.

“We are still dealing with a single source and a single group.”

However, that source had not yet been identified, Ardern said.

He said no links to managed isolation facilities had been found.

He said it was “very likely” that more Covid-19 cases would be found in the Mt Roskill miniature cluster.

He said that the Government had always said that New Zealand could be at Tier 2 when there is an active cluster, and that our systems are good and designed for the existing scenario at the moment.

However, Ardern said that the system only worked if people did their part, and thanked Auckland residents but asked them to “keep going” as “no corner” of Auckland had been affected by the group.

After 18 days, Auckland exits the level 3 lockdown at midnight tonight, to what is essentially level 2.5.

That means social gatherings will be limited to 10 people. “I can’t express how important it is,” Ardern said.

“If we want to stop the spread, we have to stop socializing for some time.”

Starting tomorrow, people over the age of 12 must wear masks on all means of public transport, and Ardern urged Aucklandites to follow those rules.

“Basically when you leave your house … we ask you to wear a mask.”

I would not rule out requiring the use of masks if people don’t wear them.

Ardern said he had “confidence in his team of five million” when it comes to whether or not the government will order the wearing of masks.

He said there would be strict restrictions on senior care facilities.

He asked Auckland residents not to attend mass gatherings across the country and said people needed to use their common sense.

He said it was “highly unlikely” that there was Covid outside Auckland and “we want it to stay that way.”

Ardern said the government was stepping up its response and stressed that having a Covid QR code on a business is mandatory.

He asked anyone with cold or flu symptoms to get tested, and said people without symptoms would be asked to get tested in parts of Auckland.

Ardern said: “We will raise the levels again if necessary.”

But he said if people do their part, that won’t have to happen.

“We need the team of five million to help us get back to where we need to be. Our system is only as good as our people,” Ardern said.

Ardern said the government had “raised our expectations” of Auckland residents.

However, he said the message was “wrong” that people in South Auckland and West Auckland needed to be tested, even if they had no symptoms.

She said the front line message was an “oversimplification” and was “incredibly angry” about this.

He said there was an attempt to keep the message simple and that it was done “wrong.”

“We are not asking everyone in the west and south of Auckland to get tested.”

We are not asking 700,000 people to get tested, “he said.” It was a mistake “.

Ardern said that she did not sign all the communications.

She said it “has to be the case” that this does not happen again. “We cannot afford to post messages like this.”

He said he will work with the All Government department to solve the problem.

When told the information was still posted on social media, Ardern said the team had been informed “a few hours ago” that this information was incorrect, so she would be “following up” with them.

Ardern made it clear that it was the fault of the All of Government Covid-19 team. She said that the information seen in the ads and the publication was not made on the podium by a government minister.

He said he was answering his “last questions” at the press conference so he could go and fix the problem.

He said he has not been informed that the test sites have been overloaded.

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And even though some public health experts said it was too early to move Auckland to level 2 tonight, Ardern said the Health Ministry has not informed the Cabinet that the move was premature.

Auckland will join the rest of New Zealand on Level 2 at 23:59. It was previously said that those levels will be revised on September 6.

Ardern extended Level 3 for four days on Monday, but Health Minister Chris Hipkins confirmed this morning that the lockdown will not be extended again.

The Government has today published announcements in the main Sunday newspapers warning that Auckland will move to level 2 tomorrow.

“The key for us is to look at that group: are all the cases within the group, are they known and identified? The evidence so far is yes,” he told MediaWorks radio.

This is an important element of the government’s Covid-19 containment plan; At this time, all but one active cases have been linked to the Auckland group.

That case, a maintenance worker at one of the isolation hotels, is still under investigation.

But Level 2 is likely to be different from what Auckland’s locals have experienced in the past.

Hipkins said this morning that it would be more like a level 2.5 for a while, which means more emphasis would be placed on masks and limited public gatherings.

He also confirmed that the number of Covid-19 cases today would be “slightly lower” than 13 yesterday.

“That’s encouraging,” he said, but did not say exactly how many.