90% Of Hutt Valley DHB Residents Double-dosed; 80 Community Cases; 62 People In Hospital, 4 In ICU

There were 18,527 total vaccine doses administered yesterday, including 2,434 first doses and 6,849 second doses. To date, 94% of eligible people in New Zealand have had their first dose and 89% are double-dosed.

To minimise the spread of COVID-19 this summer, we all need to play our part. We’re asking everyone to stick to the basics.

Get tested if you’re unwell, even if you’re vaccinated, and stay at home until you receive a negative result.

Be sure to wear a mask or face covering when you’re out and about, keep track of where you have been using the NZ COVID Tracer App, or a manual diary, and have your My Vaccine Pass ready for use wherever it is required.

Finally, if you’re not vaccinated yet, please get your first dose today. Getting vaccinated is the best way for New Zealanders to protect themselves, their loved ones, whānau and communities from COVID-19.

Testing reminder

Unvaccinated people who are asymptomatic and require surveillance COVID-19 testing for travel need to get a supervised rapid antigen test from a pharmacy, within 72 hours of travel.

This testing is for people over the age of 12 years and 3 months who are not fully vaccinated and do not have COVID-19 symptoms, and includes unvaccinated people travelling out of Auckland.

Rapid antigen testing at pharmacies is currently only available at no cost for people who are not yet vaccinated and need to get tested for travel.

Anyone with any COVID-19 symptoms is asked to get a PCR test at a community testing centre or a GP and stay at home until a negative result is returned.

People who are vaccinated do not need to get a rapid antigen test or a PCR test for travel, so long as they carry their My Vaccine Pass.

People getting tested for the right reasons at the right places will help ensure that test results continue to be returned in a timely way.

The location and hours of pharmacies offering rapid antigen tests will be available from Healthpoint.

Omicron close contacts

Several members of a flight crew have been identified as close contacts of a Omicron variant case in Australia. These crew members arrived in New Zealand last night and are in a MIQ facility, as per standard international air crew arrival procedure.

New cases identified at the border

Today’s cases
Today, we are reporting new community cases in Auckland, Waikato, Lakes and Bay of Plenty.

We are announcing an additional case in Canterbury today, which will be officially counted in tomorrow’s case numbers.

Regional updates
We are continuing to ask anyone in New Zealand with symptoms – no matter how mild – to get tested, even if you’re vaccinated. Please stay at home until you return a negative test result.

Testing and vaccination centre locations nationwide can be found on the Healthpoint website.

Auckland

Today, there are 51 new cases being reported in Auckland.

Health and welfare providers are now supporting 2,595 people to isolate at home, including 664 cases.

Waikato

There are 21 new cases to report in the Waikato. A large proportion of the new cases are in Te Kūiti.

Exposure events in Te Kūiti and across the region continue to be generally in private settings. We are grateful to all those who have been helping to keep our community safe by getting tested and encourage anyone with symptoms to contact Healthline or their GP and seek a test.

Nine pop-up and dedicated testing sites are operating throughout Waikato today with sites in Hamilton, Te Kūiti, Ngāruawāhia, Huntly, Tokoroa, Putāruru and Ōtorohanga. For a full list of testing sites, see the Waikato DHB website.

Bay of Plenty
There are seven cases to report in the Bay of Plenty today.

All are in the Tauranga City area.

One is linked to a previously reported case, while the other cases are still being investigated for potential links.

Contacts are being identified and will be contacted for testing and isolation advice.

Lakes
Today we are reporting one new case in the Lakes DHB region.

This case is in the Taupō district and is linked to a previously reported case.

Canterbury update
There is one case to announce in Christchurch today.

The case is a close contact of a previously reported case and was already isolating at home when they tested positive.

The case was notified after the morning cut-off and therefore will be officially included in tomorrow’s case numbers.

Christchurch testing locations and opening hours are available on the Healthpoint website.

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