No new cases of Covid-19 overnight, says Hipkins

June 24, 2021
Chris Hipkins says it’s ok to be questioning, but correct information must be shared.

There were no new coronavirus cases overnight after a Covid-positive Sydney man's trip to Wellington over the weekend, Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins says.

Hipkins also told Breakfast that health authorities are working off the assumption the man has the highly-infectious Delta variant and he is linked to Sydney's current outbreak on advice from officials in New South Wales.

The Bondi cluster grew to 31 cases yesterday. 

Officials here are still waiting for confirmed results of whole genome sequencing, Hipkins said. 

Confirmation of the man's positive test result came through late on Tuesday after he visited Wellington over the weekend. He checked into multiple eateries and tourist hot spots around the city. 

The case has seen the capital moved into Alert Level 2 until at least Sunday. 

Hipkins said there was no official confirmation yet, but it appeared the man's partner was asymptomatic. 

The Covid-19 Response Minister also defended the timeline of the distribution of information to Wellingtonians.

Earlier, physicist and disease modeller Shaun Hendy told Breakfast the country was "very likely" dealing with the Delta variant. 

Hendy said the capital being at Alert Level 2 was a "good move" despite the man's four close contacts — two in Tauranga and two in Palmerston North — testing negative yesterday. He said they could be incubating the virus. 

"It's good news but it's still relatively early," Hendy said. 

The University of Auckland data modeller says the move was a “good one” as it will give contact tracers a chance to do their job.

Epidemiologist Michael Baker told 1 NEWS yesterday there could be a "worst-case scenario" if the man had the Delta variant. 

"They spent the whole weekend in indoor venues and literally have contact with thousands of people. So, this can cause huge amounts of transmission of the virus. That’s a big threat," Baker said.

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