35 new community cases today – all in Auckland

Chris Lynch
Chris Lynch
Oct 11, 2021 |

There are 35 new community cases today – all are in the Auckland region.

Of these cases, 14 have known links to existing cases (including four household contacts) and 21 remain under investigation.

The Ministry of Health has confirmed that a follow-up test, for a person currently in Katikati, in the Bay of Plenty region, returned a negative result.

”While the case remains under investigation, the public health risk is deemed low given the person’s vaccination status, regular test history, good use of the NZ COVID Tracer app and rapid contact, testing and isolation of family members, all of whom also returned negative results.”

North Shore Hospital update

Two staff members have now returned positive results for COVID-19 following a positive case reported yesterday in a patient receiving treatment in the dialysis unit adjacent to North Shore Hospital. The connection between the three cases is being investigated.

A number of staff have been stood down initially as a precaution, and all those staff who have been tested have returned negative results.

The dialysis unit remains open, with measures in place to manage potential risk to both patients and staff. This includes use of PPE and intensive cleaning between each group of patients and plans to use a mix of rapid PCR and rapid antigen testing for staff prior to them starting their shift.

Auckland City Hospital staff member

Auckland DHB last night informed the Ministry that a fully vaccinated staff member tested positive for COVID-19 over the weekend.

Auckland City Hospital has now identified all contacts of the staff member, to carry out testing onsite for staff and patients.

”We have been informed this morning that two further hospital staff members have tested positive. Of the three, two were tested at a community testing site while one was tested as part of routine workplace surveillance.”

Initial investigations have shown there are no links to the NICU parent case.

Update on Auckland case who travelled to Northland

Whole genome sequencing for the Auckland case who travelled to Northland has been completed on the initial sample, confirming the case is linked to the Auckland outbreak.

Due to sample quality limitations, whole genome sequencing could not link the case to a specific cluster, however resampling has been undertaken and ESR are working to improve the data quality of additional sequencing.

The case remains in an Auckland quarantine facility.

A second person who is thought to have travelled with this case has been contacted but not yet located.

The case was under investigation after returning a weak positive result from a test in Whangarei earlier this week and Friday returned a positive test result in Auckland.

Public health staff continue to work closely with the person to determine any locations of interest or exposure events associated with the case. There are currently 21 close contacts associated with this case. The household of the case and travel companion are included in this number.

Waikato update

There are no new community cases to report in Waikato today, with all 31 existing cases linked to the original index case in the region.

Yesterday across the region, 1,212 swabs were taken, and 3,292 vaccinations administered.

There are three pop-up testing centres operating today at Claudelands Event Centre, Te Kohao Health in Hamilton East, and one at Raglan, as well as the existing testing centre at Founders Theatre.

Further details on exact locations and hours of testing sites are available on the Healthpoint and Waikato DHB sites.

MidCentral case update

A previously reported case, in an individual from Auckland, who tested positive in Palmerston North and who had been in isolation on the hospital grounds was transferred on Friday (8 October) to Palmerston North Hospital and is currently receiving treatment.

The Ministry understands from MidCentral DHB the patient is in a stable condition.

Testing and vaccinations

The two best tools we have in the continued fight against COVID-19 are testing and vaccinations – the numbers for both continue to be high.

The Ministry of Health urges anyone who has symptoms, no matter how mild, to please get tested and isolate until they receive the result. For COVID-19 testing locations nationwide, visit the Healthpoint website.

Additionally, anyone who hasn’t already done so should book their COVID-19 vaccination today.

Chris Lynch
Chris Lynch

Chris Lynch is a journalist, videographer and content producer, broadcasting from his independent news and production company in Christchurch, New Zealand. If you have a news tip or are interested in video content, email [email protected]

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