New locations of interest raise total over 450

August 21, 2021

Scroll down for a recap of 1 NEWS' updates on day seven of the nationwide Level 4 lockdown.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Jacinda Ardern yesterday announced the entire country will remain at Level 4 for another four days, before being reviewed on the afternoon of Friday, August 27 for New Zealand outside Auckland. Auckland will remain at Level 4 until Tuesday, August 31. Settings will be reviewed on Monday, August 30.

Dr Ashley Bloomfield today announced 41 new Covid-19 cases in the community, bringing the total number of cases associated with the current outbreak to 148. Of the new cases, 38 are in Auckland and three are in Wellington. 

Meanwhile, there are 15,741 contacts who have been formally identified as of 9am today - most of whom are close contacts.

There are now 450 locations of interest, including Pak 'n Save Royal Oak and Pak 'n Save Sylvia Park; Bunnings Warehouse Mt Roskill; and Subway in the Auckland CBD. The list of locations of interest, which continues to be updated every two hours, can be found here.

LIVE UPDATES

9.25pm:  That wraps up today's live updates, which will resume again tomorrow. 

9.20pm:  A look at how this lockdown compares with the last Level 4 lockdown in March 2020.

The Director-General of Health made the revelation at a Health Select Committee on Tuesday.

8.45pm:  The Ministry of Health have announced there are 15 new locations of interest in Auckland, taking the overall total to 453 locations. The new locations include the Aotea Centre, Countdown CBD and New Lynn New World.

7.45pm: Seven Sharp answers Kiwis' questions about the Covid vaccine and how it works.

We answer your questions on the vaccine and how it works!

7.28pm:  All six people who used the atrium thoroughfare next to the Crowne Plaza MIQ facility at the same time the person believed to the source of the outbreak was in the lobby have been identified and tested, a Health Ministry spokesperson told 1 NEWS. 

"Three have returned negative results, while three results are still pending," the spokesperson said.

"It has been confirmed the case was indoors while a very small number of people walked in the open walkway, which is well ventilated."

7.18pm:  The extended lockdown is putting the already struggling events sector under more strain, sparking calls for Government-backed event insurance.

ACT leader David Seymour says the Government needs to provide more certainty for mass events. He’s proposing Government-backed event insurance like in the UK.

"It’s not just the event organisers who lose out," Seymour said. "It’s the hundreds of workers and subcontractors involved in a major event, and often thousands of ticket holders."

6.37pm: Disease modeller Professor Shaun Hendy says New Zealand could see around 1000 cases emerge from the current outbreak.

Hendy says the current outbreak is "more comparable to the March-April cluster from 2020 - we could be looking at around 1000 cases all up".

6.11pm: Meanwhile, the number of locations of interest has now hit 450. 

The locations include Auckland's Aotea Centre; Countdown Auckland Metro; Countdown Pakuranga; Unichem Pharmacy in Mt Roskill; and the foyer of the Auckland Performing Arts Centre in Western Springs.

6.07pm:
A spokesperson for the Health Ministry told 1 NEWS while the staff member returned a positive test today, the case is "currently classified as under investigation".

"As a precaution the staff member has been stood down and Public Health staff are currently investigating," the spokesperson said. 

The risk to the public is low as the staff member "was asymptomatic, fully vaccinated, was detected through routine testing, wore appropriate PPE while at work, and the individual is reported to have taken all the appropriate precautions once notified".

The DHB reports that the Emergency Department currently remains open.

6pm: A staff member in the Emergency Department at Auckland's Middlemore Hospital has today tested positive for Covid-19.

An email was sent out to Middlemore ED staff this evening confirming the news.

The person is asymptomatic and the "risk of transmission is low the email states.

5.39pm:
There are now nine confirmed Covid-19 cases at AUT, according to AUT.

"We are aware of nine confirmed cases at AUT. (Of these nine cases, one was not on campus while infectious and we are awaiting further information on three)," the university wrote on its website.

A list of locations of interest relating to the university's campuses can be found here.

5.36pm: 
The perspex barrier along the public atrium of the Crowne Plaza MIQ facility will be changed to make it higher, the Ministry of Health told RNZ's Checkpoint.

The barrier - currently two metresin height - is the only thing separating returnees in MIQ and the general public.

5.10pm:
National MP Chris Bishop has criticised Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins' comments at today's Health Select Committee stating he did not believe the vaccine rollout was slow.

"The simple reality is that while things are only slowly ramping up now, New Zealand has the slowest vaccine rollout in the developed world, and the Government’s negligent execution of the rollout has left New Zealand a sitting duck for the Delta variant," Bishop said today in a press release.

"We were told we would be at the front of the queue for vaccines. We remain at the back.

Bishop called the vaccine rollout "the single most important thing the Government will do in this term of Parliament".

"It is imperative for New Zealand’s future that we vaccinate as many people as possible, as quickly as possible.

"Right now, we are being let down."

4.34pm: Testing numbers by group as of this morning, according to this afternoon's Health Select Committee:

Highest risk contacts – 369 people
Results returned - 51 per cent
Positive results - 11 per cent 

Close contacts – 14967 people
Results returned - 56 per cent
Positive results - 0.2 per cent

Casual plus contacts – 405 people
Results returned - 58 per cent 
Positive results - 0 per cent

4.24pm:  There are now 439 locations of interest.

They include the Filipino Night event at Rosmini College, on Auckland's North Shore; Glassons in Westfield Albany; Chemist Warehouse Albany; Pandora and Starbucks in the Auckland CBD; and the NX2 bus from Wellesley Street East to Akoranga Station.

4.19pm:
The Ministry of Health is reminding Kiwis to continue to "be kind" amid "racist comments" aimed at the Pacific community. 

Dr Bloomfield this afternoon revealed a large portion of the Covid-19 community cases were of Samoan ethnicity.

4.04pm: A member of the Samoan AOG Church in Māngere with 58 community cases linked to it told 1 NEWS mass last Sunday had roughly 500 people at it.

"We are in a very difficult and frustrating position at the moment considering everything that is going on with the church cluster. We are just following rules just like everyone else and staying safe," they said.

"Our community is cooperating by get tested ASAP and staying in their bubble isolating."

They said they appreciate the public’s concern for their community at this "very difficult time".

3.34pm: Forty-four people have been charged with 48 offences nationwide as of 5pm yesterday since Level 4 came into effect.

The arrests are primarily due to protest activity and other intentional behaviour in breach of the restrictions, Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said today in a statement.

In the same time period, 108 formal warnings were issued.

Police have also issued 507 infringements nationwide as of yesterday since officers began issuing infringements for Covid-19 breaches on August 19.

3.14pm: The youngest case is under the age of one years old, Dr Bloomfield has confirmed at this afternoon's Health Select Committee.

Meanwhile, half of the cases are under the age of 20, he said, but "the age profile may have changed since".

"At that point we had no cases who are Māori, but I understand there is at least once since then."

The Director-General of Health made the revelation at a Health Select Committee on Tuesday.

Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said the Delta variant was infecting younger populations "more readily than other variants of the virus and we're seeing that in our current response".

3.13pm:  A vaccination clinic in Waipu had some unexpected visitors line up to get the Covid-19 vaccine before the Alert Level 4 lockdown – a group of dinosaurs. Read the full story here.

3.03pm:  The second wastewater sample to be taken in Warkworth has come back negative, with no further detection of the virus in the area.

Dr Ashley Bloomfield said ESR scientists were able to isolate the RNA from the wastewater sample initially taken in the area and he said, it "had enough of a match on the whole genome sequence to show the link to the current outbreak".

"It’s likely this was someone who was transiently in Warkworth."

2.54pm: Two people who used a public thoroughfare next to the Crowne Plaza MIQ facility at the same time the person believed to be the source of the current outbreak was in the lobby have now been identified, Dr Bloomfield has told the Health Select Committee. 

The pair are now being spoken to by police.

2.50pm:
Chorus NZ has released a map showing Kiwis' data usage amid the Level 4 lockdown.

A new record was reached on the first day of the lockdown, on Wednesday, August 18, at 26.3 petabytes - 55 per cent higher than the baseline.

Usage hit a peak throughput level on Saturday, August 21, at 3.75 terabytes per second.

It also showed large dips in usage when the Prime Minister addressed the nation and the 6pm news. 

2.39pm: A man was arrested and charged yesterday after allegedly failing to wear a mask and becoming aggressive with staff at a Countdown in Christchurch. Read the full story here.

2.20pm:
The list of locations of interest has now grown to 431.

New locations added include the Level 3 library and Room 416 of the WZ building on AUT's City Campus; Farro Fresh North Shore; and Dotti in Westfield Albany.

2.13pm:
Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson confirmed at this afternoon's press conference that an MIQ worker at Novotel in Ellerslie, in Auckland, yesterday tested positive for Covid-19. 

The worker had not been at work when they tested positive. Robertson said the worker is a close contact of one of the clusters.

"The infection didn't come from MIQ - it was a person who had it and went in work there," he said.

Robertson said they were believed to have been at work for one shift prior to the positive test, and colleagues who were on the same shift are now self-isolating and getting tested.

1.59pm:
Microbiologist Dr Siouxsie Wiles is reminding New Zealanders to "stay the course" amid rising case numbers.

"Cases will continue to rise in the coming days. That’s no reason to panic," she said on Twitter this morning ahead of today's case numbers.

"Lots of exposed people are getting tested & it will take time to process all those tests & process the data. None of this is cause for alarm or to abandon elimination so don’t let the pundits or economists like Rodney Jones convince you otherwise.

"The best thing you can do right now if you are not an essential worker is stay in your bubble, get tested only if you have symptoms are have been asked to get tested, wear a mask outside your bubble & scan in."

1.54pm: The Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment has apologised over an "insensitive" tweet over the temporary pause of the MIQ booking system amid the Delta outbreak.

1.31pm: The Resurgence Support Payment Scheme kicked in across the country at 8am this morning. The payment is available for businesses and organisations seeing a 30 per cent or greater drop in revenue since the country entered Alert Level 4, or a 30 per cent decline in capital-raising ability over a seven-day period over the alert level increase. 

It's paid at a flate rate of $1500 per business, then $400 per full-time equivalent employee for up to 50 employees. Around 26,000 applications have been made in four hours.

Meanwhile, the Wage Subsidy came into effect on Friday. Around 127,935 applications have been processed, resulting in just over $484 million being paid out to businesses. 

Further information on the support payments and how to apply can be found here. 

1.24pm:
Grant Robertson has reminded New Zealanders of a "wide range of supports" available for those impacted by the Covid-19 lockdown. 

It includes the Leave Support Scheme - avaiable for employers, including the self-employed - to enable them to pay employees who need to self-isolate and are unable to work from home. 

It's paid as a lump sum for a two-week period of $600 per week for full-time workers, and $359 for part-time workers. 

There is also the Short-Term Absence Payment, which is available for businesses - including those who are self-employed - to pay employees who cannot work from home while they wait for a Covid-19 test result. The payment is the same rate as the Leave Support Scheme. 

1.18pm:
Dr Bloomfield says the majority of cases emerging from the outbreak are now of Samoan ethnicity. To date, 58 cases been linked to the Assembly of God church in Māngere - the largest sub-cluster.

The second-largest is associated with our first cases - what the Health Ministry is calling the 'Birkdale social group' - with 23 cases linked.

Meanwhile, there are 15,741 contacts who have been formally identified as of 9am today - most of which are close contacts. Approximately 9757 contacts have been followed up with and are self-isolating, while efforts are ongoing to contact the remaining contacts.

1.05pm:
There are 41 new positive cases in the community to announce, Dr Bloomfield told reporters at the 1pm update.

It brings the number of confirmed cases associated with the current community outbreak to 148.

Of that number, 38 are in Auckland and three are in Wellington. All three are known close contacts of existing cases, Dr Bloomfield said. They had been identified two days ago before being confirmed today.

12.59pm: The vaccination centre in Nelson's Trafalgar Centre has seen around 300 people do walk-ins for vaccines between 9am and 12pm today.

Nelson Marlborough Health yesterday said walk-ins would be made on Tuesday as there were many spots still available. 

Those eligible - including youths aged between 12 and 15 - have been encouraged to go and get their vaccine if they haven't already done so.

12.51pm: Meanwhile, an iwi-led vaccination drive is helping thousands of Māori and Pasifika get jabbed against Covid-19 under Alert Level 4.

Dunedin-based Te Kāika healthcare centre, which Ngāi Tahu owns, came up with the idea after the country was plunged into lockdown last week. For the full story, click here.

12.48pm:  The Ministry of Education and TVNZ are bringing back Home Learning TV Papa Kāinga TV.

TVNZ’s DUKE +1 will offer learning support for families based at home from Wednesday, August 25 from 9am to 1pm.

Viewers will be able to enjoy sessions from Suzy Cato, Karen O’Leary, amazing local teachers and more.

DUKE +1 is available on Freeview channel 18 and Sky channel 504.

12.41pm: A worker at an Auckland MIQ facility has today tested positive for Covid-19, according to reports. 

The staff member works at the Novotel Ellerslie facility, according to the New Zealand Herald. 

They had been self-isolating on August 20 after visiting a location of interest.

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