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Covid-19: 41 new community cases, 21 unlinked

Author
Ben Leahy, NZ Herald,
Publish Date
Sat, 16 Oct 2021, 1:06PM
 (Photo / File)
(Photo / File)

Covid-19: 41 new community cases, 21 unlinked

Author
Ben Leahy, NZ Herald,
Publish Date
Sat, 16 Oct 2021, 1:06PM

There are 41 new Covid-19 cases in the community on a day when more than 65,000 Kiwis have already received a dose of the vaccine as part of the Super Saturday "vaxathon".

As at 10am, 20 of these cases are linked with 13 being household contacts. Another 21 case remain unlinked with investigations continuing to help determine their connection to the current outbreak, the Ministry of Health said.

An Auckland woman associated with the two women who travelled to Northland has tested positive for Covid-19 and is in an Auckland quarantine facility.

She was in Northland with the other two women.

Public health officials have determined she wasn't infectious while she was in Northland between 2-8 October. Her infectious period has been determined as beginning after she returned to Auckland.

Three household contacts and two other contacts have been identified by public health officials. These contacts follow a visit to a private home in Auckland and shared transport to the testing centre.

Super Saturday has kicked off strongly, meanwhile, with thousands of people around the country rolling up their sleeves for their Covid-19 vaccinations.

By 1pm, 69,582 people have been vaccinated today, 19,773 with their first dose and 49,809 with their second dose.

Today's numbers include 5,443 first doses and 6,004 second doses for Māori.

Today, 1,979 Pacific people have received their first vaccination and 4,215 the second dose.

In Auckland today 4,490 Aucklanders have had their first dose and 17,714 their second.

There is one new positive Covid-19 case to report from the Waikato outbreak. The case is a household member of two existing cases and is already in a quarantine facility in Auckland, the ministry said.

Waikato DHB is continuing to carry out regionwide testing, to help rule out any undetected community spread of Covid-19.

Meanwhile, vaccination rates in Waikato remained high yesterday with 5,789 people receiving a dose – of these, 1,591 were first doses, and a further 4,198 were second doses.

There continues to be positive Covid-19 detections in wastewater samples taken from Raglan.

This reflects known cases in the area who have been granted exemptions to isolate at home. However, symptomatic locals are encouraged to please get tested.

There have also been positive detections in wastewater from Beachlands and Pukekohe.

(Graphic / Herald)

These followed earlier detections at both sites on October 8. People in these areas with symptoms are also asked to please get tested, the ministry said.

People in Wellsford are urged to get tested after two positive detections in wastewater samples.

Further samples are currently being analysed. There are testing stations open today at both Wellsford and Warkworth, and a pop-up testing centre is expected to open on Monday in Mangawhai.

Auckland's Covid outbreak is on the rise with daily case numbers tipped to hit the hundreds next week, raising questions about how high today's numbers could go.

There were 65 new cases yesterday but just 3571 first vaccine doses were administered in Auckland.

It comes as the highest number of new community cases recorded in a single day in this New Zealand Delta outbreak took place on August 29 with 83 cases recorded.

Case numbers then later declined but have been rising steadily this week from 35 on Monday to 71 on Thursday, leading to fears today's figure could again reach the 80s.

However there is also hope that today's Super Saturday can make a significant difference to vaccination levels.

Vaccine centres have been set up, not only around Auckland, but right around the country with many offering free food and giveaways alongside festive atmospheres with music and celebrities on hand.

‌The day's live 'Vaxathon' will run from midday to 8pm. The event will celebrate the regions with the biggest change in vaccination numbers and be supported by well-known Kiwis.

It aims especially to reach out to those yet to get their first dose and encourage them to come forward and get the vaccine in a fun and friendly environment with possibly a free sausage thrown in.

The Ministry of Health said vaccination remained the country's number one protection against the disease and urged everyone to get vaccinated or support someone to get vaccinated on Super Saturday.

Ministry figures show just 3571 first doses were administered in Auckland on Thursday, along with 17,399 second doses.

Auckland's vaccination rate is now 88 per cent (at least one dose) with 67 per cent of eligible residents fully vaccinated.

New Zealand's overall vaccination rate is 83.4 per cent (first dose at least) with 61.8 per cent of the eligible population fully vaccinated.

Of the 71 cases announced on Thursday, 30 had exposure events in the community and the rest were isolated through their infectious period.

There are 34 people in hospital with Covid-19 - six in ICU or High Dependency Units.

Bloomfield earlier told RNZ that of the 170 people so far hospitalised in the Delta outbreak in Auckland only three had been fully vaccinated.

Around 4 per cent of all people who had caught Covid in the outbreak were fully vaccinated - while a percentage of others had received one dose, he said. The vast majority of cases and hospitalised people had not received any dose.

"We do know vaccinated people seem to be infectious for a shorter period. First of all, they are less likely to pass on the virus and if they are infectious, it's for a shorter period."

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