A full level 4 lockdown is "not in frame" right now despite additional cases of Covid-19, all linked to the existing Auckland cluster of 17, Health Minister Chris Hipkins said today.
As Cabinet meets this afternoon to decide New Zealand's ongoing Covid response, a level 4 lockdown is not in the frame right now, Hipkins told Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking.
"All of the evidence suggest it's still the one cluster. Obviously we release the new number at 1pm. There have been some additional cases and we will release those at 1pm today. Yes, all of the cases so far remain connected. That is very encouraging but obviously we haven't identified the point of origin.
"Level 4 is not in frame at the moment. You would need to see a number of different clusters and a number of different isolated cases before you make a decision along those lines. There is nothing like that in the frame at this point."
Hipkins said it was now compulsory for border workers to be tested, defending the Government's earlier approach and revelations only a third had been tested.
Auckland University Professor of Medicine Des Gorman rated the Government's response as "somewhere between two and three" out of 10.
"I've seen health systems manage medical emergencies worse than this but it takes some doing," Gorman told Hosking. "It's like we're living in a parallel universe."
He was particularly astounded that only a third of border workers had been tested up until this week. "I thought someone was pulling my leg."
New Zealand had now had the same experience as Australia, Vietnam and other countries whose elimination strategies had been undermined by cases through the border.
"If we are going to have a keep-it-out, stamp-it-out [approach], then we need to keep it out as much as possible, stamp it out as quickly as possible... but you can't keep reacting the way we are to clusters by plunging society back into deep freeze."
Hipkins said he had not spoken to Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters who claimed on Australian television that a border breach had led to the new cluster. "There is no evidence to substantiate that claim at the moment."
Hipkins said there were rumours of positive cases all over New Zealand, and that simply was not true.
Auckland has been under level 3 restrictions and the rest of New Zealand in level 2 since midday Wednesday, following revelations of a Covid outbreak in the country's biggest city on Tuesday evening.
The news has seen thousands of Kiwis lining up for Covid tests.
Hipkins told Hosking there would be even more tests today, following complaints and concerns from people they were waiting for hours for tests or missing out altogether as stations closed.
His comments come as the size of the new Auckland cluster yesterday grew by 13 and cases spread to the North Shore. Counting the original family, there were 17 cases in total up until the new cases announced today.
New Zealanders will find out later this afternoon whether restrictions on their freedoms will be eased, extended or tightened.
Cabinet will meet about 3pm to review the last pieces of information it needs before making a decision. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will announce what the Government has decided at 5.30pm.
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