No new Covid-19 community cases in Auckland in second day of lockdown

March 1, 2021

It was revealed today that the latest community cases came after two women went on a walk together during the prior lockdown.

Today there are no new Covid-19 community cases in Auckland, the Ministry of Health has confirmed.

It comes after two new cases at the weekend, including a 21-year-old man - referred to as Case M - who went to a gym session and food outlets in the city.

Following the new case, Auckland went into Alert Level 3 yesterday morning, with the rest of the country moving back up to Level 2.

The current restrictions are for seven days.

Yesterday, the Ministry of Health reported preliminary whole genome sequencing results for Case N and Case M were confirmed to be linked to the current Auckland February outbreak.

"Contact tracing for Cases M and N continues to be a focus for public health staff in Auckland. Their other household members have been transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility," the Health Ministry said.

Contact tracing of the Manukau Institute of Technology (MIT) Manukau campus has identified 21 close contacts of Case M and 21 casual plus contacts.

One-hundred and fifty-four people who were at Papatoetoe CityFitness gym have also been identified as casual plus contacts.  

All have been successfully contacted by public health staff and have been given advice regarding isolating and testing.

No close contacts of Case M had left Auckland since potentially being exposed to the virus, the Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield confirmed. 

The dates and times of potential exposure events are on the Ministry’s website, on the locations of interest page.

As well, yesterday, the 15th case linked to the Auckland February cluster tested positive.

That person, referred to as Case O, is a household contact of Cases I, J, K and L. They are all in the Auckland quarantine facility.

The outbreak started with a family at Papatoetoe High School. Case A, who is a student, Case B, who is her mum, and Case C have all since recovered from the virus and finished their quarantine stay.

Meanwhile, there was one new Covid-19 case in managed isolation in New Zealand today.

The case was a person who arrived from India via the United Arab Emirates and Singapore on February 27. They tested positive on arrival in Auckland.

The new case brings New Zealand's total number of active Covid-19 cases to 67.

There has now been 2022 confirmed cases of the virus in New Zealand since the pandemic began.

Yesterday, 4648 tests for the illness were carried out, adding to a total of 1.71 million.

There are now 2.7 million registered users on the NZ Covid Tracer app.

"We understand that this situation is difficult for many and news of alert level changes over the weekend can be frustrating," the Ministry of Health said.

"The public can access free 24/7 support by phoning 1737, and there is a range of other support listed on the Ministry of Health website.

"Now more than ever, people in Auckland need to look out for each other. We appreciate what you are doing is for the benefit for all of us."

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