The Ministry of Health is reporting 39 new Covid cases and a death from Covid - of a patient at Middlemore Hospital.
The Ministry said further details will be available later on Wednesday after discussions with their family.
Of the latest cases 30 are in Auckland and nine in Waikato. Just one case is unlinked. Four cases from Tuesday, when there were 24 cases in total, remain unlinked.
The Ministry has done a u-turn on the recommended gap between vaccine doses, lowering it back to three weeks again, having previously raised it from three to six weeks.
Separately the Government's planning a vaccine National Day of Action on Saturday, October 16 as it strives to get vaccination rates higher. A media statement from Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins is at the bottom of this article.
Of the 24 cases on Tuesday, 19 of those cases were infectious in the community.
There are 32 people in hospital. Seven of these are in ICU.
Later on Wednesday the Ministry released these further details on the death:
The Ministry is providing further details of the death reported earlier today in Middlemore hospital linked to COVID-19.
The man in his 50s had underlying health conditions and was a confirmed case of COVID-19.
The patient spent a total of 40 days in ICU.
He was admitted to Middlemore hospital on 27 August from home.
His family is being supported by their church and community.
‘Our thoughts are with his whānau at this deeply sad time’, says Director of Public Health Dr Caroline McElnay.
This is the detailed update from the Ministry of Health:
| Cases | |
| Number of new community cases* | 39 |
| Number of new cases identified at the border | Two |
| Location of new community cases | Auckland (30); Waikato (9) |
| Location of community cases (total) | Auckland (including five cases in Upper Hauraki) 1,385 (1,068 recovered); Waikato 18 (all active); Wellington 17 (all recovered) |
| Number of community cases (total) | 1,420 (in the current community outbreak) |
| Cases infectious in the community | 19 of yesterday’s 24 cases have exposure events |
| Cases in isolation throughout the period they were infectious | 5 of yesterday’s 24 cases |
| Cases epidemiologically linked | 38 of today’s 39 cases are linked |
| Cases to be epidemiologically linked | One of today’s 39 cases. Investigations are continuing to determine a link. |
| Cases epidemiologically linked (total) | 1,383 (in the current cluster) (15 unlinked from the past fortnight). |
| Number of sub-clusters | 15 epidemiologically linked subclusters. Of these, seven are active, one is contained and seven are dormant. There are 14 epidemiologically unlinked subclusters. Of these, five are active, one is contained and eight are dormant. |
| Cases in hospital | 32 (total): North Shore (2) Middlemore (15); Auckland (14); Waikato (1) |
| Cases in ICU or HDU | Seven |
| Confirmed cases (total) | 4,092 since pandemic began. |
| Historical cases, since 1 Jan 2021 (total) ** | 166 out of 2,276 since 1 Jan 2021 |
| Contacts | |
| Number of open contacts being managed (total): | 1,410 |
| Percentage who have received an outbound call from contact tracers (to confirm testing and isolation requirements) | 82% |
| Percentage with at least one test result | 79% |
| Locations of interest | |
| Locations of interest (total) | 160 (as at 10am 5 October) |
| Tests | |
| Number of tests (total) | 3,489,770 |
| Number of tests processed (total last 24 hours) | 24,714 |
| Number of tests taken in Auckland (last 24 hours) | 13,331 |
| Tests rolling average (last 7 days) | 18,263 |
| Testing centres in Auckland | 22 |
| Wastewater | |
| Wastewater detections *** | No unexpected detections in the past 24 hours |
| COVID-19 vaccine update | |
| Vaccines administered to date (total) | 5,467,111; 1st doses: 3,361,425 2nd doses: 2,105,686 |
| Vaccines administered yesterday (total) | 63,624; 1st doses: 17,592; 2nd doses: 46,032 |
| Mâori | 1st doses: 329,208 2nd doses: 186,632 |
| Pacific Peoples | 1st doses: 212,208; 2nd doses: 131,120 |
| Vaccines administered to Auckland residents to date (total) | 1,993,927 1st doses: 1,216,661 (85%); 2nd doses: 777,266 (54%) |
| Vaccines administered to Auckland residents yesterday (total) | 22,180; 1st doses: 5,562 2nd doses: 16,618 |
| NZ COVID-19 tracer | |
| Registered users (total) | 3,276,018 |
| Poster scans (total) | 409,594,785 |
| Manual diary entries (total) | 17,665,545 |
| Poster scans in 24 hours to midday yesterday | 2,311,892 |
New cases identified at the border
| Arrival date | From | Via | Positive test day/reason | Managed isolation/quarantine location |
| 25 September | Philippines | Singapore | Day 6/ symptomatic | Auckland |
| 1 October | Panama | France/UAE | Day 3 / routine | Auckland |
Death at Middlemore
The Ministry of Health is sadly reporting the death of a patient at Middlemore Hospital. Further details will be available later today after discussions with their family. The Ministry would like to recognise the family’s loss and offer our deepest sympathies.
Waikato ED exposure
A patient who visited the Emergency Department at Waikato Hospital last Friday night has now tested positive for COVID-19.
The asymptomatic patient was screened when they entered ED by staff who were following Alert Level 2 Infection, Prevention and Control protocols.
In a cautious approach the DHB has temporarily stood down a number of ED staff who are self-isolating.
Results from rapid PCR tests are expected today.
Waikato testing
There are five pop up testing sites operating in Hamilton, Raglan, Huntly and Tokoroa, with all five being open for extended hours to cater to any lift in demand.
An existing site at Founders Theatre car park in Hamilton remains open.
The DHB is working to establish a sixth pop up testing site, at Karapiro, following the positive case there. An existing testing provider in Kawhia has been expanded. More details on exact locations and hours are available on the Healthpoint and Waikato DHB sites.
Demand for testing has been steady and there are good supplies of testing kits and staffing capacity.
Vaccine – gap between doses
In response to the ongoing Delta outbreak the Ministry of Health is advising New Zealanders to consider a shorter gap between doses of the Pfizer vaccine than the current standard of six weeks.
Reducing the gap between doses to at least three weeks means more people can be fully vaccinated sooner, increasing our community immunity. The two doses of the Pfizer vaccine must be given at least three weeks apart.
In August the standard gap between first and second doses of the Pfizer vaccine was extended from three weeks to six weeks to allow us to give one dose (partial protection) to a larger number of people faster.
Since that time the Delta outbreak has increased the risk of contracting COVID-19 for everyone in New Zealand and increased the urgency for people to be vaccinated as soon as possible.
Auckland suburbs of interest
People without symptoms are asked to get tested if they live in any of the eight suburbs of interest.
The current suburbs of interest are:
· Clover Park
· Mângere
· Favona
· Manurewa
· Mount Wellington/Sylvia Park
· Henderson
· Papakura
· Red Beach
*Today’s cases
Includes one previously reported Waikato case that has been reclassified from recovered to active. The recently reported Upper Hauraki case is now included in the Auckland figures. There is one further case in a border worker that is yet to be classified as community or border related.
**Historical cases
One previously reported case has been reclassified as historical
***Wastewater testing
Samples taken from Taupo and Putaruru on Monday 6 October in the Waikato region did not detect COVID-19.
Several other samples have been taken from throughout New Zealand. These include those collected from Te Kauwhata, Raglan, Ngaruawahia, Huntly, Feilding, Hunterville, Hamilton and Palmerston North. Results are expected tomorrow.
This is the statement from Hipkins:
With over half the eligible population now fully vaccinated and more than 80% with at least one dose, we’ve all got to do our bit reach the remaining 20%, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins says
“We’ve got a plan and to make it work we’re asking everyone to contribute to a big, nationwide push for vaccination. This will culminate in a National Day of Action for vaccination on Saturday 16 October,” Chris Hipkins said.
“On that day, we will have vaccine clinics open throughout Aotearoa all day and into the evening. A bit like Election Day, we will be asking all our political and civic leaders to contribute to a big collective effort to turn people out.”
As of today half of the eligible population in New Zealand has been fully vaccinated. We’ve seen 85% of Aucklanders and over 80% of New Zealanders have at least one dose of the Pfizer vaccine.
“We all have a role to play in getting our vaccination rates up,” Chris Hipkins said.
“Our message to the 80% of the eligible population who have had their first dose is this: your job is not done. Please get your second dose, and help us reach those who have not yet come forward to be vaccinated.
“We need you to be talking to them about the reasons you’ve been vaccinated, we need you to make sure they are getting reliable, honest information about the vaccine. And we need you to help us to get the unvaccinated vaccinated.
“We are asking our business community, our media, and our community groups to play a role too. Those that want to offer incentives to the unvaccinated to get them in the door are encouraged to do so.
“We want parents and grandparents to encourage young New Zealanders to take up the opportunity to be vaccinated. We also want young people to check in with any older family members who aren’t yet vaccinated, show them where they can find reliable and accurate information online, and help the whole whānau to be protected.
“We must leave no stone unturned. No one should be left behind because they haven’t had the support they need to make an informed choice to be vaccinated.”
There are currently 350,000 appointments available next week on https://bookmyvaccine.covid19.
health.nz/. That doesn’t include general practice, where more than 20% of people are getting their vaccines. Work is being done with District Health Boards now to increase capacity even further. “Our response as a collective nation to the challenges posed by COVID-19 has been world-leading. Now we need a world-leading uptake of vaccination,” Chris Hipkins said.
“The next week and a half is critical. We need to pull out all the stops to increase our vaccination rates. It has never been more urgent.”
94 Comments
- "You can now form vigilante groups and forcibly remove people from their homes to get vaccinated."
My sis who is a district nurse in Otara says this to her patients who are hesitant:
The first vaccine keeps you out of ICU.
The second keeps you out of hospital.
A very simple straightforward message that almost anyone can get.
Some of you have over-active imaginations.
So does that good minister of ours...
COVID 19 is now tracking down unvaccinated people!!! BEWARE YOU ANTI-VAXXERS I AM COMING TO GET YOU
I laughed so hard I had to stop my car while driving earlier in the day when I heard that unbelievable drivel, from a government minister, no less...
Yes that quote was one I choked on my lunch. There have been a few this week that even a tinpot dictator with a dodgy moustache would be proud of.
The stats definatively prove that for >90% of the population covid isn't that bad. 10% will have some long term/serious issues, but these people tend to have other issues anyway. Harping on about the exceptions is just fearmongering, and only serves to enhance the anti-vax position.
The govt are making it a battle, and trying to lead by fear. They should have followed their own message of "be kind" and told the truth...
"You probably will get covid, you probably wont get it that bad. But if you get the jab, you will barely notice it all" I mean it is a no brainer.
Instead they are peppering people with idiotic statements like today. A dude that believes in lizard men and 5G is only going to see it as a threat from the Govt. Get our tracker jab, or that manufactured virus we made will get you.
I know she means well but that isn’t quite the facts. Yes it reduces the chances of those things and on balance it makes sense but you can end up in hospital from the vaccine. You should of course still get it because you will probably come into contact with COVID-19 at some point and if you have issues with the vaccine you are very likely to have serious issues with COVID-19 . It is important that people make an informed decision.
I really shouldn't be surprised that they've decided to push their own egos but that's what it has come to. It's all about trying to be better than other nations and Hipkins openly admitted that today.
When i thought they couldn't get any lower, using health data to target people at the suburb level has got to be a new low of this government. Encouraging people to get out there and start knocking door-to-door.. what next, dragging people out kicking and screaming? This lunacy has got to stop.
You might call it lunacy, I call it being stuck in lockdown until enough people get vaccinated that our health system can cope. Maybe you like lockdown, I find it pretty tedious. I assume you are against the vaccine passport too which means vaccinated people have to stay in lockdown conditions even though they pose very little risk to the health system.
We just blew 100 billion and the system couldn't cope without covid in January. It will take more than vaccination rates - the government that proved that it couldn't build houses isn't going be able to build hospitals. The vaccination rate and the 'unvaxxed' is a very useful smokescreen for this government.
“Patients are stuck. They're in corridors. They're spending six, eight, 12 hours in the emergency department where we're forced to try and provide them longitudinal care,” Bonning said.
Some ED shifts were functioning with only two thirds of their normal number of nurses.
“So it's about the sickest and most injured patients not being able to be admitted to the ward and us trying to look after them whilst we wait for those ward beds to become available.”
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/300262252/new-zealand-hospitals…
Building more hospital infrastructure would allow you have infectious disease hopsitals on standby rather than cramming all and sundry into single locations. The stuff WHO used to advocate before Covid delusion took over. So I reckon spending some of the $100 billion on hospital infra might have been a goer.
Case in point - '
The hospital is often at capacity and the COVID case admitted at the weekend was left on a ward for around nine hours while they awaited test results because there was nowhere else to put him.
"Unfortunately our single isolation rooms on that surgical ward were full at the time, if they had been empty, we would have transferred them there but what we did was what we could do at the time," says Dr Watson.
As a result, due to the risk of infection, four wards have been closed and dozens of staff are now in isolation.
"We have stood down 29 staff, not all of them of one profession," says Middlemore's medical services director Dr Vanessa Thornton.'
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2021/09/covid-19-why-middlem…
Good chance they won't be able to stop the spread through the rest of the upper and central North Island. Will be interesting to see if they re-consider a border north of Wellington, and/or reenforcing the South Island border. I thought these were obvious steps a few days ago, and it might be too late already.
Agree the prospect of a nationwide lockdown being re- imposed looks increasingly probable. But then what and for how long. As there is no indication of the vaccination level needed to safeguard hospital services, based on current government policy NZ can only stay as such forever. The big question looming, in other words, what exactly does the government intend to do if Delta is not even able to be sufficiently suppressed by vaccination, similar to the now belated admission elimination that has failed.
Level 2 nationwide on 18th October, if kids are back in school = level 2.
Anyone not vaccinated by then too bad as they had heaps of warning including vaccine day on 16th October so probably anti-vax.
Open borders for all vaccinated kiwis in February 2022. Special hospital wards for unvaccinated from then on (aka carpark building, open air and all that).
Let's get this party started.
So they need another 465,543 to get to 90% having had first doses. They probably want to fully vaccinated pre-Christmas and they shorten back the wait between jabs to 4 weeks and another 3 weeks to build immunity through peak antibody response that's about 7 weeks. There's 11 weeks until Christmas so they have about 21 days to get this done. So the daily rate we should look for is 21,169 first doses/day.
They need to lift their game substantially.
there is though, still a burning unanswered question. what happens if after reaching the ultimate high tide of vaccinations, new covid cases and hospital admissions are still imperilling hospital services? Do not overlook that this government has refused to commit to a vaccination target for precisely this reason.
Good question. People are focused on the immediate. What's the long game. Are we talking never ending restrictions? Do we all Really have zero tolerance for any deaths?
Weekly lock downs are costing nz what 250mil or something? Saving what 1,10, or 100 lives?
They don't apply that same value to your life when funding cancer drugs, Road toll etc.
I think this is partly ego and we will be in endless restrictions until the next election.
Though If the govt is hanging its hat on zero tolerance for deaths, and it's all relative to our icu capacity, where is the drive to build capacity?
100% - Cheaper than a billion a week on lockdowns. $500 universal government voucher for every double jab (can be back dated). Taper rewards with time, say in two weeks it drops to $250 and so on.
Reward those who have already stepped up. Voucher has to be spent (i.e. not cash) not saved. Hospitality may get some and the economy as a whole gets a nudge.
I'm tired of hearing please, and that's it. The clock is ticking. Modelling has peak surge of delta at around 125 days post first recognised case. It takes 2 weeks after first jab to get any meaningful protection. Tick tock.
My partner's cousin is in MIQ with covid after picking it up buying "product" at his local west Auckland gang pad. Coincidentally MIQ is acting as a drug rehabilitation facility for him right now as he can't get what he needs and is coming down hard. The dealer he got it off is in ICU now also, but the icu element is due to sustained injuries not covid. I think it's pretty firmly entrenched in that part of society now.
So what? As many people dying from Covid as are born each day? Or do you have a non-facetious answer? There are plenty of other countries where the experience is that Covid becomes the leading cause of death, accounting for another 20-30% on top of expected deaths. I would say that's a concern.
But always amusing coming to the Interest comments to see Libertarians and anarcho-capitalists batting around their ingenious public health ideas.
Final death stats (i.e. in a few years time) may prove very interesting. A lot of preliminary findings are looking at a SIN wave type scenario. That is overall deaths rise significantly above average in 2020/2021, but then will likely drop in the 2022-2025 period. Essentially Covid has bought forward the death rate rather than adding to it overall.
Yet to be proven obviously, but an interesting take none the less if it proves to be accurate.
Of course deaths have been brought forward, that happens in a car crash, but that's essentially right.
It won't be a sine wave, which implies periodicity (or hopefully not!), more like an exponential decay curve (but more like a beta curve), the difference in area under the curve from the predicted time series being the years of life saved. I don't know that it will become evident past noise for a good 8-10 years, and you're probably not going to see much in NZ!
You don’t get it do you. Such is the parlous state of our hospital capacity, that even if NZ achieved an unlikely 90%, the remaining 10% could well still be sufficient to overwhelm it. If the government/MoH has any degree of competency they will have that modelled much more precisely than Hendy’s recent figuring. So purely by what is not being said, rather than being said, the government has realised the actual achievable vaccination level is still going to be insufficient to safeguard normal hospital services and that is what they are stuttering and stammering about because they are powerless to do anything about it except impose lockdowns on the entire nation yet again.
Agreed. We have friends/family USA, UK, Ireland, countries that initially were ravaged, that are living lives unrestricted by covid. But as soon as you mention that here the naysayers start flashing their daily numbers & mortalities. The reality is that the vaccination level in NZ that is ultimately reached may still fall short of preventing health systems being overwhelmed. What happens then? Either NZ stays lockdowned forever in 3 & 4 come and go by region or it opens up like the above and other countries and copes as best it can.
MBIE in Procurement negotiations with MSD yet?
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/covid-19-treatment-antiviral-…
Today confirmed that Labour is STILL lying about Covid deaths!!?? Even the CDC admitted, in August 2020 that "primary cause of death" is the correct way to classify death; ie of Covid not with Covid. That admission reduced deaths from 200,000 to 12,000; https://voterga.files.wordpress.com/2020/11/press-release-cdc-admits-ov…
When correct classification is used the death rate drops to that of the flu...
Sunchap
You do read and promote rubbish.
An article by Voter GA - the same conspiracy site that claimed the Election was stolen. Published extensively about Dominion Machines and vote count and fraud . . . all claims dismissed in court actions.
Sorry, in this claim regarding CDC are not consistent with anything CDC have published . . . but you blindly accept it and push it. Gullible.
Like all the best conspiracy's this one has an element of truth. By all accounts it appears Covid deaths have been significantly overstated in many jurisdicstions.
Realistically we could be looking at anywhere from 5-40%. Unfortunately we are unlikely to ever know the real quantum, as quite simply the time and effort spent clarifying is better spent on other more urgent medical issues.
Any article that claims to have absolute knowledge is just plain poop.
So many gleeful, clever dick comments here, indulging themselves in partisan animus. Thankfully none of these commentators are anywhere near the levers of power or we’d be in the same trouble as USA. Only unreasonable people would think that schadenfreude is an appropriate response to the situation the country is in. Just pathetic.
Stop making stuff up please!
In August the standard gap between first and second doses of the Pfizer vaccine was extended from three weeks to six weeks to allow us to give one dose (partial protection) to a larger number of people faster.
No it wasn’t!
Director general of Health Ashley Bloomfield says Kiwis may be asked to wait eight weeks between Pfizer shots because it provides more immunity than the three-week gap.
Where is all the Covid-19 news from Fiji gone? It was a story of people dropping like flies and the drastic need to vaccinate everyone. I haven’t seen a word about it in the media here lately. Apparently, they are at 75% vaccination levels. Just checked the Fiji news:
Fully vaccinated 33 year old man with existing underlying medical conditions dies from COVID. Perhaps the narrative of being fully protected by the vaccine is weak.
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