The epidemiologist and public health professor Michael Baker urged New Zealanders to wear masks, especially in indoor environments such as supermarkets and pharmacies. New Zealand does not have a compulsory mask mandate, but Ardern and health officials urged people to wear a mask whenever they left the house. Vaccination will be open to all adults from the start of September. The country’s vaccine rollout was initially slowed down by constraints on supply, but it is expecting to vaccinate all of its willing population by the end of the year. As of this week, about 22% of the 16+ population were fully vaccinated. Most New Zealanders are still not vaccinated.

We know that we are a strong team of 5 million. But we know more now than we did a year ago. “I know that one of the worst things about Covid-19 is the absolute uncertainty that it creates. “It requires us all to be part of the response, and hard work from everyone across the country will help us get on top of this outbreak.”Īrdern made her customary exhortation to New Zealanders to “be kind” and protect their communities. “Because we cannot link the case to the border at this point, it is possible there are other cases around Auckland and other possible chains of transmission – people from around the country will have travelled to Auckland, and back to other parts of New Zealand. The country’s director of health, Dr Ashley Bloomfield, said the case was “a national issue”. So far, the Ministry of Health has identified 23 locations of interest – 13 in and around Coromandel and 10 in Auckland. He and his wife traveled to the Coromandel region on Friday, then returned to Auckland on the 15th. He was tested on Saturday the 14th, so the infectious period was considered to have started on Thursday 12th. The case in question is a 58-year-old man from Devonport, Auckland. Health officials have not yet been able to establish any connection between this case and the country’s border facilities. “We’ve seen the dire consequences of taking too long to act in other countries, not least our neighbours,” she said, referring to the outbreak in Australia, which the country has struggled to bring under control. As it is, we are one of the last countries in the world to have the Delta variant in our community, so we have had the chance to learn from others,” she said.

“With Delta raging around the world … it was not a matter of if, but when. Data released by the Ministry of Health on Monday showed 100% of Covid-19 cases detected at New Zealand’s border in recent weeks had been Delta. They can only leave the house to buy food or medical supplies, to access medical care or for socially distanced exercise.Īrdern said New Zealand would not know if the case was Delta until its genome was sequenced – but that the government would be working under that assumption until informed otherwise. Under level 4, all New Zealanders are asked to shelter in place in a “bubble” that only includes their immediate household or dependents. We have seen what can happen elsewhere if we fail to get on top of it. It means we need to again go hard and early to stop the spread. The prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, said: “Delta has been called a gamechanger, and it is. New Zealand has not had a level 4 lockdown in more than a year, and the case is believed to be the first Delta in-community transmission.

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