No New Cases Of COVID-19

There are no new cases of COVID-19 to report in New Zealand today.

It has been 98 days since the last case of COVID-19 was acquired locally from an unknown source.

There are no new recovered cases to report, so there continue to be 23 active cases in managed isolation facilities. None of those people are receiving hospital-level care.

Our number of confirmed cases remains at 1,219.

Yesterday our laboratories processed 4,014 tests, bringing the total number of tests completed to date to 486,943. There were 282 swabs taken in managed isolation and quarantine facilities yesterday.

This is another strong result around our testing numbers – thank you to everyone who has come forward to be tested. Please continue to seek advice on getting a test if you have cold or flu-like symptoms.

Pop-up centres 
Pop-up testing centres continue to be popular and are playing an important part in helping us rule out any potential for COVID-19 in our communities.

Taranaki District Health Board is holding a pop-up in central New Plymouth today from 1-3pm at the New World carpark for members of the public to get swabbed.

Mid Central are running two testing stations in Palmerston North today – one in the carpark of New World Pioneer and the other at an event at the Pasifika Community Centre at Bill Brown Park.

In South Auckland, residents are encouraged to get out and get tested for COVID-19. 

The metro Auckland DHBs will be providing free COVID-19 swabbing at a pop-up surveillance testing site in Manurewa this weekend. 

The drive-thru/walk-thru testing centre will be set up at the Southmall car park, entrance via WeymouthRoad, Manurewa, on Saturday 8 August starting at 9am until 4pm. 

There will be a pop-up testing clinic for Canterbury people without symptoms who wish to be tested for COVID-19 – again this Saturday 8 August.

The clinic will be open from 10am to 4pm at 170 Orchard Road near Christchurch Airport and has been provided by Christchurch International Airport Ltd (CIAL). It will be clearly signposted after the exit onto McLeans Island Road from State Highway 1 heading north.

There will be drive-through and walk-up capacity and for people without their own transport, the nearest bus-stop is on Harewood Road, route 125. 

If you’re in Christchurch and can’t make it to the airport, or have symptoms but don't need to see a doctor, you can attend the testing centre run by Whânau ora at 250 Pages Road between 9am-1pm 7 days a week. You do not need an appointment to attend.

Masks 
As part of the collective preparedness around COVID-19, the Ministry’s recommending households add masks to their earthquake emergency kits.

The Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield and the Ministry’s Chief Science Advisor Dr Ian Town spoke at a Facebook session on masks today.

If you don’t have access to Facebook, there’s also advice on the Ministry website about how to wear and handle masks appropriately. We’re also planning a video dedicated to this important topic.

It isn’t necessary for the public to wear masks at Alert Level 1, because there’s no evidence of community transmission in New Zealand.

Masks will be most useful when COVID-19 is present in our community and people are in situations where they are in close proximity to each other.

Masks are particularly useful in situations where physical distancing cannot be maintained, however they’re just one component of our strategy – they complement the public health measures we have all become familiar with this year:

· Good hand hygiene 
· Physical distancing 
· Cough and sneeze etiquette 
· Staying home when sick 
· Self/managed isolation and quarantine 
· Testing 
· Contact tracing

People at higher risk 
For the general public, reusable (washable), fabric masks, or single use disposable masks are suitable.

People at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19 are recommended to wear a medical-grade mask to help prevent infection.

We know that from time to time, there may be temporary stock issues but that doesn't mean cause for alarm. Remember there is no evidence of community transmission in New Zealand, so there's time to shop sensibly and just purchase what you need or place an order if necessary.

We will provide further advice on where medical-grade masks can be sourced.

NZ COVID Tracer App 
NZ COVID Tracer has now recorded more than 641,400 registered users.

There have been 86,224 posters created, and 1,987,955 poster scans. There have been 65,803 manual entries recorded in the app.

The Ministry has received feedback that some businesses have stopped displaying their QR codes. We are getting in touch with every organisation that has generated a code to provide another copy of their poster along with guidance on where to display it.

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