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Covid-19: No new community cases ahead of potential alert level change

Author
NZ Herald,
Publish Date
Fri, 5 Mar 2021, 1:07PM
(Photo / NZ Herald)
(Photo / NZ Herald)

Covid-19: No new community cases ahead of potential alert level change

Author
NZ Herald,
Publish Date
Fri, 5 Mar 2021, 1:07PM

There are no new Covid-19 community cases, igniting hopes Auckland can exit its alert level 3 restrictions this weekend.

There are also no new cases in managed isolation, said the Ministry of Health in a statement.

Cabinet is meeting this afternoon to decide on whether Auckland can exit its alert level 3 lockdown this weekend and the rest of the country can move out of alert level 2.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is scheduled to hold a press conference at 4pm, which will be livestreamed here.

It is the fifth straight day of no new positive cases of Covid-19 in the community.

New Zealand's total number of active cases remains at 68 with 2033 confirmed cases. The total number of tests processed by laboratories to date is 1,763,008.

"We continue to see a strong demand for testing, particularly in Auckland," the Ministry of Health said.

The ministry also congratulated its contact tracing teams

"In the Auckland February outbreak, close to 6000 people have been contacted and provided with advice and information on testing and self-isolation," it said.

"Local public health officials, contact tracers and interpreters and have also worked closely with other agencies and organisations to provide outreach and support to communities, including those from different ethnic and language backgrounds.

"These people have been working long hours, seven days a week, to follow up with all close contacts as quickly as possible and are in daily contact with people isolating."

Director-general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield yesterday said he was confident a "sharp perimeter" had been erected around the current outbreak.

"Now is not the time to reassess alert levels, but Cabinet is meeting tomorrow on that," he said at the time.

"What we will be looking for over the next 24 to 48 hours is continuing [to ensure] our close contacts remain in isolation."

He also wanted to see test results come back from the last of the contacts, who had been at CItyFitness Papatoetoe gym at the same time as a person who later tested positive to Covid, along with another day of no new community cases ahead of the Cabinet discussions.

"All of this will give us confidence there is no ongoing transmission," he said.

 

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