Covid 19 coronavirus: D-Day for Auckland alert level 1 decision

The Government will decide today if Auckland will join the rest of the country at alert level 1, after eleven days in a row with no new cases of Covid-19 in the community.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will announce today whether City of Sails will drop from alert level 2 starting at midnight on Wednesday.

Positive community cases of the virus were last reported in the city on September 23.

Yesterday, Ardern said that the country’s Covid response had been being followed as expected, but that he would not speculate on today’s decision.

“Any decision that is made will not take effect until Wednesday; that’s because we need to give notice of the rule changes,” he said.

Five new cases of Covid-19 were reported on Sunday, all caught at the border.

Of the five people who tested positive, two arrived from Switzerland via the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia on September 29.

One was from Russia via the United Arab Emirates on September 21; another was from Ukraine on September 29; and another was from Australia on September 30.

Two of the returnees were in managed isolation in Auckland.

Yesterday’s results were from routine tests around day three for four people and tests around day 12 for the fifth person, the ministry said.

Now there is no one in the hospital with Covid-19 in New Zealand.

Meanwhile, new requirements for aircrew came into effect last night, after changes were made under the Covid-19 2020 Public Health Response Act.

All New Zealand-based aircrew must now wear PPE on all flights and isolate themselves with other crew members during overseas stopovers and when in New Zealand.

The New Zealand-based crew returning here from overseas high-risk locations must now self-isolate for at least 48 hours after their return, and until they are assessed as low-risk for Covid-19, including receiving a negative test.

Overseas-based aircrew must wear appropriate personal protective equipment while at New Zealand airports and whenever traveling between the airport and your hotel.

If they are resting in New Zealand, overseas-based crews will do so in a government-run isolation facility for as long as they are in the country, to ensure they avoid contact with New Zealanders.

The ministry said it was aware that these measures were already widely used and that this change would ensure that they are applied consistently.