There are 129 new community cases today; 120 are in Auckland and nine are in the Waikato. As at 9am today, 64 of these cases are linked, of whom 25 are household contacts, and 65 remain unlinked with investigations continuing to help determine their connection to the current outbreak. 
 

* a previously reported border case has now been reclassified as historical 

Update on Waikato case who travelled to Hawke’s Bay
Public health officials in the Waikato are continuing to investigate a local case who travelled to Hawke’s Bay before returning a positive COVID-19 result.
One location of interest, Kmart Napier, has been identified and anyone there between 3:53pm – 5:13 pm on Friday 15 October is asked to monitor their symptoms for 14 days and if any develop, get tested and stay at home until a negative test result is received and they have been symptom-free for 24 hours.

No further locations of interest in Hawke’s Bay have been identified but locals are asked to please keep checking the Ministry of Health’s website.

There have been no positive detections for COVID-19 in the most recent wastewater samples collected from Hastings (19 and 20 October), Napier (18 and 20 October), and Wairoa (15 and 19 October). Further samples from these sites will be collected next week.

Waikato update
There are nine new cases to report today in the Waikato region, all have been contacted and confirmed linked to existing cases.

This brings the total number of confirmed cases in the region, associated with this outbreak, to 73. At this time, there are four cases in Waikato that are deemed unlinked, with investigations continuing to help determine their connection to the outbreak.

Waikato DHB is continuing to carry out testing throughout the region, to help determine any undetected community spread of COVID-19.

We are urging anyone in Waikato - in particular, people in Te Awamutu - to get tested if they have symptoms.

Testing locations in and around Waikato are available on the Healthpoint website and the Waikato DHB website, with testing available throughout Labour Weekend.

Yesterday there were 4,476 swabs taken across the region. Vaccination rates in Waikato also remained steady yesterday with 3,406 people receiving a dose – of these vaccinations, 1,040 were first doses, and a further 2,366 were second doses.

Auckland suburbs of interest
As the outbreak is now more dispersed, testing in Auckland is now focused on areas with higher positivity rates and where the risk of unidentified cases is higher.

One suburb of interest with a high positivity rate of more than 7% is Redvale, on the North Shore. At this stage, no recorded cases in Redvale have been linked to last weekend’s well-reported party.

We are asking Redvale residents with symptoms, no matter how mild, to get tested as soon as possible, even if they are vaccinated. We are also encouraging testing in New Lynn and the North Shore suburbs of Rosedale and Bayswater.

Testing is available at:
·        Eventfinda Stadium, 17 Silverfield, Wairau Valley - open 8.30am to 4.30pm
·        North Harbour Stadium, Oteha Valley Road in Carpark B – open 8.30am – 4.30pm  
·        Northcote Community Testing Centre, Corner of College Road and Kilham Avenue – open  6.30am – 6.30pm  
·        Health New Lynn, Totara Health Services, McCrae Way, New Lynn – open 8.30am – 4.30pm  

Testing is also available at GP and Urgent Care clinics. The locations of these can be found on https://www.healthpoint.co.nz/covid-19/

We still want everyone in Auckland to get a test if they have any symptoms – even those who are full vaccinated or with very mild symptoms should get tested and isolate at home while waiting for test results.  

Vaccination reminder

We would like to remind people that they can get their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine any time from three weeks after they get their first. This will ensure they get the high protection that full vaccination provides as soon as possible.

We recommend those who have had their first dose of the vaccine but haven’t yet booked their second to do so by logging on to bookmyvaccine.nz or calling 0800 28 29 26.

Next update
Over the long weekend, the Ministry’s COVID-19 updates will be via the 1pm media releases. At this stage, the next press conference is expected to be on Tuesday, 26 October.