Covid-19 case identified in Auckland community; Country going into level 4

Author: Ben Leahy/ NZ Herald / NewstalkZB,
Publish Date: Tue, 17 Aug 2021, 1:27PM

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Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Dr Ashley Bloomfield are now speaking
Experts say the case is likely to be the Delta variant
Aucklander's rushing to supermarkets have been told not to panic buy
The case travelled between Auckland and the Coromandel peninsula
The case is from Devonport
The country will move to level 4 from 11.59pm tonight for three days, but Auckland and the Coromandel peninsula will likely be at level 4 for seven days
Those who live alone can join a bubble with another person

A positive case of Covid-19 has been identified in the Auckland community early this afternoon and is under investigation.

The link between the case and the border or managed isolation is yet to be established.

Around 70-80 people were in a Coromandel bar on each night a positive Covid case visited at the weekend, the bar says.

The case is a 58-year-old Devonport man - he and his wife travelled to Coromandel township on Friday and stayed for the weekend.

The pair visited Star and Garter Bar in Coromandel township for an hour on Friday night, from 6.39pm to 7.40pm, and again from 7.11pm to 9pm on Saturday night, while the All Blacks-Australia test was playing on television.

There are a total of 23 locations of interest - 13 in the Coromandel and 10 in Auckland.

Coromandel:
• Star and Garter Hotel (Coromandel) - Friday, August 13 between 6.39pm-7.40pm
• Umu Cafe (Coromandel) - August 13 between 7.40pm-8.30pm
• BP Gas Station (Coromandel) - Saturday, August 14 between 9.30am-9.40am
&bull: Driving Creek Railway Tours (Coromandel) - August 14 between 10.30am-10.50am
• Jaks Cafe & Bar (Coromandel) - August 14 between 10.50am-11.30am
• Hereford 'n' a Pickle (Coromandel) - August 14 between 1.25pm - 2.15pm
• Taras Beads (Coromandel) - August 14 between 3pm - 3.10pm
• Richardsons Real Estate (Coromandel) - August 14 between 3.30pm - 3.35pm
• Umu Cafe (Coromandel) - August 14 between 6.17pm - 7.11pm
• Star and Garter Hotel (Coromandel) - August 14 between 7.11pm - 9.00pm
• Taras Beads (Coromandel), Sunday, August 15 between 10am-10.05am
• Umu Cafe (Coromandel), August 15 between 10.14am-11.10am
• Thames' Woodturner Cafe - August 15 between 12.40pm-1.25pm

The only Auckland location of interest so far is Crumb cafe, in Ariki St, Grey Lynn. The man was there from 10am to 10.10am on Thursday.

The man is considered to have become infectious on August 12. He is not vaccinated, but his wife is fully vaccinated and has tested negative.

The man has a small number for workplace contacts, and has been using the Covid Tracer app.

Auckland and Coromandel will go into level 4 lockdown for seven days - and the rest of the country for three days after a positive case of Covid-19 was discovered in Auckland today.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the positive case could not be confirmed as the Delta until genome sequencing was confirmed tomorrow, but every recent MIQ case has been Delta.

"While we cannot confirm it yet, we need to assume our case will be too."

She said that has shaped this evening's decisions.

"We have planned for this eventuality."

Ardern said the Delta variant is potentially twice as infectious and more liable to cause severe illness.

"We are one of the last country's in the world to have the Delta variant in our community. This has given us the chance to learn from others."

The news has sparked a run on supermarkets - but health experts are saying there is no need for people to panic-buy.

Dr Siouxsie Wiles told NewstalkZB "we have to remember that we've done this many times." She also reminded people that the supermarkets would remain open, should a lockdown occur.

The Ministry of Health has advised anyone in Auckland taking public transport this afternoon or who cannot socially distance in public spaces to wear a mask.

Contact tracing interviews are being conducted by the Auckland Regional Public Health unit.

"The Auckland Regional Public Health unit is undertaking interviews with the case for contact tracing purposes. While we collect more specific information all New Zealanders are reminded of the basic public health measures of mask wearing and hand washing. In particular anyone in Auckland catching public transport this afternoon or who cannot socially distance in public spaces should wear a mask as a precaution," the ministry said in a statement.

"A hard and early response is the best tool to stamp out any potential spread and everyone in New Zealand is asked to stay calm, be kind and play their part while we gather more information on the potential case."

There are no new cases in managed isolation.

The news comes after revelations this morning that Covid was spread between returnees at Auckland's Jet Park quarantine facility when room doors were opened simultaneously for seconds during food deliveries and a health check.

An investigation has revealed the highly contagious Delta variant was spread in seconds across a corridor and changes were now underway at the 31 MIQ facilities across the country to prevent synchronous door opening.

It comes as more than 2.5 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine have been administered.

Meanwhile, across the ditch, New South Wales yesterday announced 478 new community cases had been detected while eight people had died.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian subsequently all but admitted defeat against the Delta strain, claiming it was no longer possible to eliminate Covid-19 and that the goal would be to keep case numbers down, media outlet News.com.au reported.

"It's not possible to eliminate it completely. We have to learn to live with it," she said. "But the best chance we have to live with it freely and safely is to get the case numbers down as low as possible," Berejiklian said.

Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory, Queensland and the Northern Territory have all also recorded community cases within the last 11 days.

Meanwhile, Fiji has reported more than 800 new cases in the 48 hours up to Monday 8am.

There had also been 26 deaths, taking the toll to 394.