There were 20,873 first and second vaccine doses administered yesterday, made up 6,378 first doses and 14,495 second doses. To date, 92% of eligible people in New Zealand have had their first dose and 85% are fully vaccinated.

The Ministry of Health has now issued more than 2.26 million My Vaccine Passes.

You can request a My Vaccine Pass from the website, or call 0800 222 478, or head into one of these pharmacies for help getting your My Vaccine Pass.

Omicron variant
Health officials continue to assess the latest international information on the new B.1.1529 variant, which the World Health Organization has named Omicron.

As a precaution, and based on advice from the Director-General of Health, the Government yesterday added nine countries in southern Africa to the very high risk countries list, placing additional restrictions on travel into New Zealand.

Knowledge about this emerging variant is in its infancy and we are closely watching and monitoring evidence and countries’ responses.

Vaccine producing companies will now start assessing any impact the strain will have on vaccine efficacy. However, our advice to public remains that vaccines are the number one protection against COVID-19 – including against the Delta variant responsible for our current outbreak.

There is no change to the advice on booster vaccines, which is for people over-18 to get their booster dose at least six months after their second dose. Anyone who is due a booster shot, which become available to a wider group of people from Monday, is encouraged to book using BookMyVaccine.

There’s no need to rush to get the booster. The science shows fully vaccinated people remain really well protected from infection, and from being seriously ill if they do get COVID-19. There is plenty of existing stock of the Pfizer vaccine in New Zealand now and on order for everyone who needs a booster shot over coming months.

We will advise on any potential impacts for New Zealand, noting that we remain in a good position to minimise the impact of any new variants with isolation and routine testing of international arrivals. 

* This is rounding up, CCDHB has, as of reporting, yet to reach 90% fully vaccinated.

**Today’s cases
Today we are announcing new community cases in Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Hawke’s Bay.

Two of the cases we’re reporting in Northland today came in after our 9am cut off and will be officially added to the case numbers tomorrow. The case we’re reporting in Canterbury has been classified as a border case and will not be added to the regional community totals (see Canterbury section below).

There are no additional cases to report today in Wairarapa, Wellington, MidCentral, Lakes or Taranaki.

Information on today’s cases is included in the regional updates below. Anyone living in these areas, or elsewhere in New Zealand, with symptoms, no matter how mild, is urged to get tested – even if they are vaccinated – and remain isolated until they return a negative result. A full list of testing centres can be found on the Healthpoint website.

***This case is detailed in the Canterbury regional update below.

Death of a patient at North Shore Hospital
Sadly, today we are reporting the death of a COVID-19 patient at North Shore Hospital yesterday evening (Saturday 27 November).

The patient, who was in their 80s, was admitted to hospital on Thursday 25 November and received appropriate ward-level care.

Our thoughts are with the patient’s whânau and friends at this deeply sad time.

Regional updates
We’re asking anyone in New Zealand with symptoms – no matter how mild – to please get tested, even if you’re vaccinated. Please remain isolated until you return a negative test result. And if you’re not vaccinated, your DHB or local health provider will have plenty of opportunities to make this happen.

If you are not vaccinated, now is the time, as vaccination is number one defence against COVID-19.

Northland
Two cases in Ruakaka, announced yesterday, are being formally included in today’s figure for Northland.
In addition, the Ministry is announcing a further two cases, one in Kaitaia and one in Whangārei. The Kaitaia case is a close contact of a known case and links between the Whangārei cases and known cases are still being investigated.
The two additional cases were reported after our 9am cut-off and will be officially added to the case numbers tomorrow.
Both are self-isolating at home.

Testing and vaccination sites open in Northland can be found on the Northland DHB website.

New locations of interest in Northland continue to be added to the Ministry website.
Auckland
Today, there are 127 new cases to report in Auckland. 

There continues to be daily reviews of testing numbers and testing locations to ensure good coverage of risk areas.
 
Health staff are now supporting 4,114 people to isolate at home, including 1,119 cases.
Waikato
There were nine new cases confirmed in the Waikato overnight, five in Hamilton, two in Te Kūiti, one in Cambridge, one in Kawhia.
All are pending investigation for links today.

One location of interest was identified yesterday in Hamilton.

There are five pop-up and dedicated testing sites operating across Waikato today in Hamilton, Ōtorohanga, Huntly, and Te Kūiti.

There are four COVID-19 positive patients in Waikato Hospital, with one patient in ICU.

1,580 tests were processed in the Waikato yesterday.

Public Health staff are now supporting 115 cases to isolate at home.

Bay of Plenty
Today we are reporting four new cases in Bay of Plenty.

One case is based in the Whakatāne district, three are in the Tauranga area.

The Whakatāne district case and one of the Tauranga cases are linked to previously reported cases. The remaining two Tauranga area cases are household contacts, with their links to previously reported cases still being investigated.

All four cases are self-isolating at home.

Investigations are continuing into all cases and locations of interest, if and when they’re identified, they will be added to the Ministry of Health’s website. This is updated regularly.

Public health staff want to reiterate the message to Bay of Plenty locals to get tested if you’re feeling unwell and get your first and second dose of the vaccine if you haven’t already.

Details of testing stations in Bay of Plenty can be found on the Healthpoint website.

Hawke’s Bay
Hawke’s Bay DHB confirmed a community COVID-19 case last night.

This person tested positive for COVID-19 as part of routine surveillance swabbing for COVID-19 when they visited Hawke’s Bay Hospital’s Emergency Department after feeling unwell. No Emergency Department staff have been stood down as a result, as all were wearing the appropriate protective PPE.

The case investigation began last night and the person and close household contacts are now isolating.

Further interviews with the positive case and testing for all close and wider contacts continues today to determine any links to other cases and to identify any locations of interest.
At this stage, an early assessment has found a number of exposure events, such as the DHB Emergency Department, where anyone potentially affected is able to be contacted directly.

The Ministry’s webpage will be updated with locations when identified and confirmed as a result of today’s reported case.

For all updated testing centres and times please visit the DHB’s website.

Canterbury
There is one new case in Canterbury being reported today, which is being classified as a border case.

The case travelled from Auckland to Christchurch on Thursday 25 November on Air NZ Flight NZ8475 arriving in Christchurch at 10.50am. Anyone who is considered a contact of this case will be contacted directly.  Unless you are contacted you do not need to do anything other than watch for symptoms and get tested straight away if you develop any symptoms of COVID-19.

This case travelled from London to Doha on 16 November and Doha to Auckland on 18 November. They left managed isolation last week and tested positive on their Day 9 test while in home quarantine.

The case is a child and is isolating at home with family. Locations of interest in relation to this case will be posted to the Ministry of Health website.

Every new case is an urgent reminder to get tested if you’re feeling unwell. Testing at high numbers will help to minimise and contain the spread of COVID-19 in Christchurch.
 
There is good testing capacity across the city today and over the weekend. Testing locations throughout Canterbury can be found on the Canterbury DHB website.  
 
The Ministry continues to ask people in Canterbury to regularly check the Ministry’s locations of interest page.
 
If you haven’t had your first dose yet, or are overdue for your second dose, there’s plenty of capacity at vaccination clinics in Canterbury this weekend.

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