27/02/2021
From Alert Level 2 to Alert Level 3 again due to 1 case of Covid-19 in South Auckland. Contact tracing is also in place. NZ.
COVID-19 ALERT LEVEL UPDATE
From 6am tomorrow morning, Auckland will move to Alert Level 3 and the rest of New Zealand will move to Alert Level 2. The measures will remain in place for the next seven days.
We have planned for the likelihood of further community outbreaks and have activated our national resurgence plan. We have stamped out the virus before and we can do it again.
COVID-19 UPDATE
There is one new case of COVID-19 in the South Auckland community.
The case is a family member of a student from Papatoetoe High School. That could provide a straightforward explanation for this infection, but in this case it has not.
The Papatoetoe High School student in the household has tested negative on three separate occasions and has no symptoms for COVID 19.
That means we have no current known link for the case discovered today.
Genome sequencing is currently underway. This will tell us if this case is linked to the small outbreak we have been dealing with. At this stage, we assume it will be.
If we can’t immediately link a case person to person, what we call an epidemiological link, that is a significant issue. The second cause for concern is the exposure that the current case has had with others.
Listed amongst the places they visited while possibly infectious are a supermarket, a gym, and they attended classes at Manukau Institute of Technology. We will provide more details on the locations of interest in a separate post shortly.
These are well populated sites, and given the person’s infectious period dates back to last Sunday, we may well have close contacts who are already infected.
Based on this, we are in the unfortunate but necessary position of needing to protect Aucklanders once again.
AUCKLAND ADVICE
We are asking that people in Auckland stay home, and work and study from home if possible. The border around Auckland will be re-established, which includes Port Waikato. For information on the Auckland boundary, please see our website: https://covid19.govt.nz/alert-system/alert-level-boundaries/
Travel in and out of Auckland is for essential travel only. Those who received a border exemption when Auckland was moved into Level 3 earlier in the month, will not need to reapply. Those exemptions will be reactivated.
We do ask for your patience and cooperation as Police work as fast as possible to set up checkpoints
If you are an Aucklander, you can travel to Auckland to return home. But you should not travel out of the region unless you have to.
If you go outside your home maintain physical distancing of 2 metres, or 1 metre in controlled environments where you know the others present.
We are asking children to stay home from school. In Alert Level 3 schools (years 1 to 10) and Early Childhood Education centres can open for children whose parents need to be at work.
Supermarkets, pharmacies, primary produce retailers, and petrol stations can remain open. There is no need to rush out this evening to any of these places. We are asking all other businesses that usually interact face to face with customers to move to non-contact methods – click and collect, or online ordering.
The main rule here is maintaining physical distancing between staff and not physically interacting with customers.
Public venues will be closed. For example, libraries, museums, cinemas, food courts, gyms, pools, playgrounds, markets.
Gatherings outside of your bubble are prohibited, with the exception of groups of 10 for wedding services, funerals and tangihanga. Physical distancing and public health measures legally must be maintained at those events.
Healthcare services will revert to using virtual, non-contact consultations where possible.
Please see our website for reminders on life at Alert Level 3: https://covid19.govt.nz/alert-system/alert-level-3/
REST OF NEW ZEALAND
The rest of New Zealand needs to remain vigilant. This means stay home if you’re sick or vulnerable, wash your hands regularly and well, and use the NZ COVID Tracer app by scanning QR codes and keeping your Bluetooth turned on in the app, or sign in if you can’t use the app.
Businesses and schools remain open but public health guidance including physical distancing and record keeping need to be maintained.
Hospitality businesses must keep groups of customers separated, seated, and served by a single person with a maximum of 100 people at a time.
Mass gatherings will need to be limited to 100 people. Gatherings of up to 100 people are allowed for wedding services, funerals, and tangihanga.
Keep physical distancing of 2 metres from people you don’t know when out in public. Keep 1 metre physical distancing in controlled environments like workplaces, where practical. Wear a mask or a face covering if physical distancing is difficult.
Please see our website for reminders on life at Alert Level 2: https://covid19.govt.nz/alert-system/alert-level-2/
TESTING
Testing centres across Auckland reported strong demand for testing this afternoon. All testing locations in Auckland are available on the Healthpoint website https://www.healthpoint.co.nz/covid-19/ and the Auckland Regional Public Health Service website https://www.arphs.health.nz/.../covi.../where-to-get-tested/,
It’s important the right people can get access to testing — so please don’t rush to a centre if you are well, or if you weren’t at one of the locations of interest. We are anticipating high demand at our COVID-19 testing sites and delays are possible, so our request is to please be patient.
If you have symptoms but have not been to a location of interest stay home and call Healthline for advice.
