Red Beach has been added to the list of Covid-19 suburbs of interest in Auckland.
The Ministry of Health on Tuesday asked people both with and without symptoms in the north Auckland suburb to get tested.
It says a pop-up community testing centre in Orewa at Victor Eaves Park, Enter via West Hoe Road was open until 6pm Tuesday, and tomorrow from 8.30am to 5pm.
The testing centre said around 200 people turned up to be tested. 1News saw around 30 cars being turned away to allow them to finish up for the day.
Meanwhile, Metlifecare, which owns Hibiscus Coast Village in Red Beach, told 1News a "number of residents have already gone offsite to be proactively tested, and others have made appointments to be tested tomorrow at local clinics".
It's the first time an area this far north has been listed as a suburb of interest in the current outbreak.
"We hope to be able to offer on-site testing for our staff and residents at Gulf Rise and Hibiscus Coast Village this week."
Insurance provider Bupa told 1News its care homes are closed to visitors under the current alert level restrictions and Bupa NorthHaven has "additional infection prevention control measures" in place.
"We also continually conduct surveillance of our residents for any new respiratory symptoms," Bupa said in a statement.
It added that 94 per cent of residents at Bupa NorthHaven have received their first dose, while 90 per cent are fully vaccinated. In addition, 95 per cent of their staff have received their first dose while 84 per cent are fully vaccinated.
Red Beach is the eighth suburb of interest on the Ministry of Health’s list.
Other suburbs of interest include Clover Park, Mângere, Favona, Manurewa, Mount Wellington/Sylvia Park, Henderson, Papakura. The Ministry of Health says anyone with or without symptoms in these suburbs should get tested.
It comes as 24 new Covid-19 cases were announced in the community on Tuesday, of which 18 are in Auckland and six in Waikato.
"The two best tools we have in the fight against Covid-19 are testing and vaccinations, and the numbers for both continue to be steady," Director of Public Health Dr Caroline McElnay said earlier Tuesday afternoon.
On Monday, 14,905 tests for Covid-19 were processed throughout the country, including 12,595 from Auckland.
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