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68 new Covid cases in community, 277 in total during outbreak; Virus detected in Christchurch wastewater

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Thu, 26 Aug 2021, 12:46PM

68 new Covid cases in community, 277 in total during outbreak; Virus detected in Christchurch wastewater

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Thu, 26 Aug 2021, 12:46PM

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Director of Public Health Dr Caroline McElnay gave an update on Covid-19 in the community.

LISTEN TO UPDATES ON NEWSTALK ZB:

  • There are 68 new cases in the community, bringing it to 263 in Auckland, 14 in Wellington, and a total number of 277, 1 previous case has been reclassified as a false positive, there are 6 sub-clusters 
  • There are also 1 new case in MIQ  
  • The numbers are not unexpected. Ardern said. 37 of cases are from within households that already had a case. 
  • Of 60+ cases reported yesterday, 16 remain under investigation. Across 400+ locations of interest reported, 13 currently have generated additional cases. 
  • Overall lockdown is having an impact, Ardern said. There isn't spread beyond Auckland and Wellington. If it weren't for lockdown, she believes we would have seen cases spread further. 
  • However, with Delta she said we can expect the lag time in our numbers to be longer and bigger 
  • Experts are telling the Government to stick to the elimination strategy, Ardern said 
  • The collective goal is to move away from lockdown measures and vaccines help us do that, the Prime Minister said. She said it's not the Government's intention to use lockdown measures "forever".  
  • There are 3 additional locations of interest have been added today 
  • Over 24,000 contacts have now been identified 
  • Yesterday 41,739 swaps were processed 
  • Covid-19 detected in wastewater in the Christchurch catchment on Saturday and Sunday. ESR does stress that there are three active cases in Christchurch MIQ facilities.  
  • Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said 
  • Over 87,000 vaccinations yesterday, bringing the total vaccinations to 3 million, a record number of vaccinations were also booked through book my vaccine  
  • Vaccinated people can monitor symptoms with a new "post vaccine symptom check" - a random sample of people will receive an initiation via text today, asking them to participate in a survey, McElnay said. 
  • Whole genome sequencing on samples from 152 community cases has been run. They are all linked to this community outbreak 
  • Ardern said compliance with level 4 restrictions has been impressive so far. "Always act as if you might have Covid," she reminds New Zealanders. "The most important thing you can do to avoid further lockdowns, is to get vaccinated." 

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