Covid 19 coronavirus: confidence ahead of today’s cabinet meeting on alert levels

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Health officials are confident they are aware of the community outbreak of Covid-19 cases, ahead of today’s cabinet meeting to assess the alert level setting, but warn that the cases are likely to continue for several more weeks. .

Two new cases of Covid-19 were announced yesterday: a case of a 21-year-old man linked to the Americold Cool Store case pool and who was already in isolation as a close contact, and another woman in managed isolation.

Dr William Rainger, Director of the Auckland Regional Public Health Service, joined Health Minister Chris Hipkins at Middlemore Hospital for the update, telling the media “we can be pretty sure we are aware of this” .

“The epidemic curve peaked about two weeks ago, it’s rippling downward. We’ve had the Mt Roskill church congregation give it a little boost, but the direction of travel is downward,” Rainger said.

“So we think all the current clusters that we are aware of and are working on are well contained … but we would expect to see cases for probably a few more weeks.”

An “overwhelming” majority of cases have already been identified through contact tracing and proven as a result, Rainger said.

When asked about a recent case without a confirmed link, a person whose brother traveled to Hobbiton said it was under investigation, but that “it was probably a historical exposure.”

“There has been no forward spread as a result of that. That makes us believe that there is no more risk associated with those cases.”

The current alert level setting (level 2.5 for Auckland and 2 for the rest of the country) is in effect until Sunday, September 6, but Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has said a decision will be announced before then.

Earlier yesterday, Ardern said the government “will always be very cautious” about the timing of a possible move to alert level 1.

Hipkins said the Cabinet would consider not only the number of new community cases, but also what was known about them.

“You can have a large number of cases, but they can all be known, for example, and they can all be people who are already isolated.

“Over the last two weeks, we saw some days where we had a higher number of community cases, but often they were directly linked to each other … they were already isolated. So that in itself doesn’t create a great deal of additional anxiety. .

“They’re usually linked, and we’ve seen it through this episode that we’ve been dealing with. Sometimes it takes a day or two just to gather that information.”

Hipkins and Rainger emphasized the need for continued surveillance and testing if any symptoms develop, and that anyone identified as a close contact should remain home in isolation for the full 14 days.

“This outbreak affects all parts of Auckland,” Hipkins said. “No matter where you live or work, please continue to take steps to protect yourself.

“We can’t relax yet.”

Covid tracer QR codes are now required to be on public transportation, including taxis and Uber, and the Ministry has issued six alerts to people using the Covid app.

Hipkins said reports of bus drivers not wearing masks will be followed. He would not rule out further delays in NCEA exams or assessments and asked parents to return their children to school.

“My plea to parents, really, is to send their children back … they are wasting valuable learning time.”

The Health Minister also said that he had received an “alarming” number of letters from people who mistakenly believed that the government would force vaccination against Covid-19, something that he attributed to “a direct result of the deliberate misinformation being spread to through social networks “.

Roskill church ‘resistance’ now overcome: Health minister

“There may have been a bit of resistance” to health officials from a church that has had multiple cases of Covid-19, says Health Minister Chris Hipkins, but that was quickly overcome.

Earlier this week, 1 News reported allegations that members of Mt Roskill Evangelical Fellowship had defied level 3 closure rules and had gathered privately for prayer meetings, something that a church leader denied.

When asked about those allegations yesterday, Hipkins said “very early in the lockdown there were a couple of dates in question that were being investigated,” but he had no update on what, if anything, those investigations had found.

He said the church and its members were cooperating.

“The feedback I’ve had is that there may have been a bit of resistance at first, but that has been overcome – that there are good relationships there, the church is doing its part to encourage people who are involved with the church to get the test, and the test numbers would indicate that it is working. “

A spokesman for the Health Ministry declined to say what the result of the investigation Hipkins refers to was.

“The church has provided us with the necessary information for contact tracing during this period, so from our perspective, any other information we have collected should remain private.”