There are seven new confirmed cases of COVID-19 to report in the community today. 

There are no new cases to report in managed isolation.

Six are already linked to previous cases in the cluster, and one remains under investigation.

This adds to the case from yesterday which also remains under investigation to firmly establish the link to the current outbreak.

 To date, 54 people linked to the cluster have now been moved into a quarantine facility, including 24 people who have tested positive.

The seven new confirmed cases to report today bring our total number of confirmed cases to 1,258.

The total number of active cases in New Zealand is 56, of which 37 are from the recent community outbreak, and 19 are imported cases in managed isolation and quarantine facilities.

Of the 37 cases, 35 are linked to the cluster, and two remain under investigation, but are believed to be linked to the same cluster. 

Testing

The Ministry of Health says unprecedented testing is happening across the country, with laboratories delivering results on a daily basis well above previous capacity of around 13,000 in a day.

Laboratories have processed 23,846 tests for COVID-19, bringing the total number of tests completed to date to 548,260. 

Tokoroa cases

The two people who have tested positive for COVID-19 in Tokoroa are being transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility, and their family and close contacts are in self-isolation with oversight from the local Medical Officer of Health. Of their close contacts, all have returned negative tests to date. 

Morrinsville aged residential care facility

An update on the test results from the Kingswood Rest Home in Morrinsville – all staff and residents at the facility have been tested and are negative for COVID-19.  Two staff remain in self-isolation as a precautionary measure. 

Masks 

The Ministry of Health’s National PPE Supply Chain has made five million masks available for community use. Two million of these have been delivered to Countdown and will be available for purchase through Countdown supermarkets around the country.

Deliveries of the three million earmarked for vulnerable populations began yesterday with 1.6 million masks dispatched across 125 groups – including food banks, maraes, Pacific community churches and Aged Concern. 

Further orders for 400,000 masks were received yesterday.

Travel exemptions

As Auckland is now at Alert Level 3 and the rest of the country is at Alert Level 2, there are a range of restrictions around people entering and leaving Auckland city. These restrictions are designed to protect the health of people both inside and outside Auckland.

Essentially the Auckland city ‘border’ is closed. However, some exemptions are allowed – for example, people entering or leaving Auckland to: return home, access medical services or to transport a child as part of a shared caregiving arrangement. 

So far the Ministry has had more than over 100 requests for exemptions, all have been acknowledged and are being processed and a number have already been approved.  

Other investigations 

The Ministry of Health is continuing to investigate two travellers who left New Zealand and later tested positive for COVID-19 overseas. 

One case is a Japanese traveller who left New Zealand on 8 August and transited through Singapore enroute to Japan.

The other case is a Belgian traveller who left New Zealand on 6 August and transited through Singapore enroute to Amsterdam. Both travellers were asymptomatic in New Zealand. 

These cases are all considered low risk and to date, there is no evidence of any transmission in New Zealand.

The Ministry of Health has contacted 11 of the 13 close contacts of the Japanese case so far. These people are all in self-isolation and are being tested. 

The Ministry of Health has identified one close contact of the Belgium case. This person is in self-isolation and is well.