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LAST VIRUS:
• First Covid death in three months: father of four becomes New Zealand’s youngest fatality
• Steven Joyce: Where is the plan for the Covid recovery?
• Covid-19: The Five Burning Questions NZ Faces
• The first death in the current outbreak occurred yesterday, raising the death toll from Covid to 23
• The current alert level setting will remain in effect until 11:59 pm. M. From September 16
• Auckland remains at level 2.5: limit of 10 people in social gatherings, limit of 50 people in funerals and tangi
• The rest of the country remains at level 2: limit of 100 people in meetings, masks in public transport, physical distancing
A cluster of five Covid-19 cases in Botany has raised enough alarm for the government to keep Auckland at alert level 2.5 for at least two more weekends.
The rest of the country will continue to have Level 2 limits on social gatherings and physical distancing requirements to mitigate the risk of traveling in and out of Auckland.
It comes with a new reminder of how deadly Covid-19 can be, with the death yesterday of a man in his 50s at Middlemore Hospital, the first to die from this current outbreak.
“Our thoughts are with his family and community in this time of loss and grief,” said Chief Health Officer Ashley Bloomfield.
“[This] It reinforces the importance of our shared vigilance against Covid-19, the dire consequences that the virus can bring, and the measures we must all take to stop the spread, break any chain of transmission and prevent deaths. “
The death toll in the country from Covid-19 is now 23.
READ MORE:
• Covid 19 coronavirus: 5 new cases while Jacinda Ardern reveals the alert level call
• Coronavirus Covid 19: the Cabinet decides the alert levels; Winston Peters breaks range
• Covid 19 coronavirus: two new cases today, one in the community
• Covid 19 coronavirus: Police will come out in additional numbers as Auckland celebrates the first weekend of Level 2
Yesterday, the Cabinet decided to maintain the current configuration – level 2.5 for Auckland and level 2 for the rest of the country – at least until 11:59 pm on Wednesday 16 September.
The cabinet will decide on Monday, September 14, if the configuration changes, which would not take effect until after Wednesday.
Depending on how well contained the outbreak of 155 forts is, at that stage the Cabinet may decide to maintain the restrictions in Auckland and lift them for the rest of the country.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the Auckland group, which has 153 cases, appeared to be contained “at this stage.”
But while Botany’s cases have the same Covid-19 strain as the group, no epidemiological link has been found.
“That means there could be other [Covid-positive] people we’re losing, “Ardern said.
“It gives us reason to be careful and it gives us reason to be cautious.”
There are two cases in the outbreak outside the group and three other groups within the group with missing links in their transmission chains, but they are older.
The first botanical case was reported on August 28 and the most recent was on Tuesday.
That was Auckland’s second day at level 2.5, meaning his close contacts may have been moving around the city for a day or two before they were told to isolate themselves.
The group is made up of two households and has 42 identified contacts.
“Cases have been identified and close contacts are isolated and are being tested,” said Bloomfield.
“We are hopeful that it is well contained. It’s just that it turned up quite late, several weeks after the first cases of this outbreak.”
Another reason for not lifting the restrictions, Ardern said, was because it takes a week to see a change in the alert level setting reflected in the test results.
That means the current results reveal nothing about the spread of Covid-19 from Auckland leaving level 3.
The modeling also showed that weekends, when socializing was most common, were the “period of greatest risk,” he said.
Police will be in force this weekend to ensure the 10-person social gathering limit is respected.
University of Otago epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker applauded Cabinet’s decision.
One concern is unidentified close contacts in Auckland, who may have spent the last week spreading Covid-19 below level 2.5 relative freedoms.
“It is too early to know the full extent of the outbreak,” Baker said.
“It seems manageable at the moment, but 12 more days and a large volume of testing will give us a better idea of how the outbreak is performing.
“With no more cases outside the cluster, in 12 days we could be much more confident that we had eliminated it.”
Ardern said the Cabinet had considered moving the South Island to level 1, but was still risky with the domestic travel allowed.
“Even if we don’t have any more cases, there is still the possibility of spread outside Auckland. If that happens, level 2 lessens the impact of any spread.”
To mitigate the risk, test stations will be installed throughout the country in tourism and hospitality locations.
Health officials will also be stationed at Auckland National Airport to inform people of health risks and to remind Auckland locals to get away with level 2.5.
Yesterday there were just under 10,000 test results and only five new cases: two in managed isolation and three in the community.
All community cases were linked to the group, and of 3,191 close contacts identified in the outbreak, only 55 are yet to arrive.
Of the six people hospitalized, two are in the ICU.
Bloomfield said that the high acceptance of the Covid Tracer app and general compliance with wearing masks in public transportation indicated that people were not suffering from alert-level fatigue.
He said there didn’t need to be a series of case-free days before moving to level 1, and it was more about the nature of the cases, including those not connected to the cluster.
When asked about the ongoing cost of restrictions, especially at venues and event organizers, Ardern said, “Every hour at level 3 is even more expensive.”
