Aotearoa New Zealand has reported 9570 new community cases of covid-19 and a further 32 deaths today, bringing total publicly recorded deaths with the coronavirus 1017.

In a statement, the Ministry of Health said the total number of deaths was up by 31 from yesterday as they had removed a case which had been previously reported twice.

“This case was initially reported on March 10. The deaths being reported today include people who have died over the previous six weeks, since April 5.”

The seven-day rolling average of reported deaths is 17.

“Of the people whose deaths we are reporting today; two people were from Northland; nine from the Auckland region; two from Bay of Plenty; two from Taranaki; one from Tairawhiti; four from MidCentral; two from Hawke’s Bay; three from the Wellington region; one from Nelson-Marlborough; four from Canterbury and two from Southern.

“One person was in their 20s; four people were in their 40s; two in their 50s; four in their sixties; nine in their 70s; nine in their 80s and three were aged over 90.

“Of these people, 10 were women and 22 were men.”

The seven-day rolling average of community case numbers is 8024 — last Wednesday it was 7533, the ministry said.

It said there are 425 people in hospital, including nine in ICU.

Yesterday, the ministry reported 9843 cases and eight deaths.

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“For three days last week, case numbers were reported at over 20,000 … today’s case number is up a bit [on Monday] but that is to be expected as testing rates are always a bit low over the weekend,” she said.

The Ministry of Health reported 17,148 new cases of covid-19 in the community and the reported deaths were over a period of 10 days, taking the covid-19 related death toll to 303.

One person was in their 30s, one person was in their 50s, five were in their 60s, nine were in their 70s, seven in their 80s and 11 were in their 90s.

Seventeen were male and 17 were female.

The reduction in case numbers has been most pronounced in Auckland. Cases have fallen from just under 4300 reported cases last Monday to 2300 yesterday.

Dr McElnay said while numbers overall were dropping, regional spikes were occurring.

The so-called “Mexican wave of cases” is being reflected the most in Canterbury, she said. “We’re seeing those numbers roll down the country.”

Overall, numbers were expected to continue to decrease over the week.

Rest of NZ lagging
The only district health boards (DHBs) with increases in numbers are Whanganui, MidCentral, Taranaki and the South Island DHBs.

“That probably tells us that the rest of New Zealand is about a couple of weeks behind Auckland,” Dr McElnay said.

“It gives us a signal of where we hope to be in the next couple of weeks.”

“We are optimistic that in the next couple of weeks the rest of the country will follow the same pattern as Auckland and we will see a drop in hospitalisation and a decrease in pressure on our health services.”

Dr McElnay said that once a person tested positive for covid-19, they should not test again for 28 days.

If you develop new symptoms after that, then test. If you test positive, you are considered a new case and you must isolate again.

This weekend was the start of eased restrictions which the government announced early last week.

Meanwhile, more than 1300 doses of Novavax’s covid-19 vaccine, which has been available since March 14 for those who cannot have the Pfizer jab or would prefer not to, have so far been administered.

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The clamour in New Zealand to ditch vaccine passes and change the traffic light setting is poorly timed, an epidemiologist says.

The number of covid-19 deaths is on the rise, with nine reported today.

One thousand people are now in hospital, including 26 in ICU, the highest number yet in intensive care.

University of Auckland epidemiologist Professor Rod Jackson said the worst may be yet to come.

It is “too soon to relax”, although the country is nearing its peak, Professor Jackson said.

He said the push for change is “politicking” and not many businesses want to remove vaccine passes at present.

He told RNZ Morning Report that looking around the world other countries did not go straight up and down with their peaks and New Zealand would be at risk of “yo-yoing around” if vaccine passes and other public health interventions were removed too soon.

Vaccine passes should be retained until it was clear that the omicron outbreak was just about over, he said.

‘We’re at the top’
“We’re at the top at the moment. It makes absolutely no sense to remove any effective public health measures when we’re still at the top.

“It’s crazy. I think it’s political nonsense to be pushing to take them away now.”

Professor Jackson said more than 1 million New Zealanders still needed to get their booster. As well, the unvaccinated were twice as likely to catch covid-19, three times as likely to transmit it than fully boosted people and five times more likely to be in hospital.

“We’re not over it yet … those relatively small numbers of people, when you do all of those multiplications, they are sufficient to overwhelm our health system.”

He referred to what was happening in the UK and parts of Australia where there were rising case numbers.

“I know there’s huge pressure to take away the vaccine passes but I think it’s a mistake.”

Professor Jackson said it was business which forced the government to introduce vaccine mandates and he did not believe they were hugely in favour of taking them away now.

“I think this is politicking.”

Makes no sense
It did not make sense to change the traffic light setting in the next few days either.

“We’ve got more people in hospital today than we’ve ever had. We’ve got more deaths than we’ve ever had.

“It just doesn’t make any sense to be relaxing public health measures that have proven to be incredibly effective at the peak of an outbreak.”

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told Morning Report that the traffic light system must be “no more restrictive” than needed and mandates would not be as necessary after the first omicron wave.

Cabinet was meeting today to review vaccine mandates, vaccine passports and the traffic light system, though any decisions will not be announced until Wednesday.

Watch the PM talking to Morning Report

The changes will mark the biggest domestic shake up to covid-19 restrictions since omicron arrived on Aotearoa’s shores.

“We know that in the future we’re likely to have have additional waves of omicron… We’re already seeing that in other countries,” Ardern said.

“So let’s make sure we get the covid protection framework, that traffic light system, right for the future.

“We want it to be no more restrictive than it needs to be, so if there are areas we can pare it back, we will.”

She said that with a highly vaccinated population the government believed mandates and vaccine passes would no longer be as necessary once the omicron outbreak had peaked.

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A public health expert says New Zealand’s covid-19 response is still one of the best in the world, two years after the first case was discovered here.

Two years ago today, the first case of the coronavirus was confirmed in New Zealand, in a recent returnee.

The entire country would go into lockdown for the first time less than a month later.

As New Zealand marks two years of living with covid-19, 14,633 new community cases of the virus were announced yesterday alone and a total of 56 people have died from it.

In a statement, the Ministry of Health said there were also 344 community cases of the cases in hospital and five in ICU.

This was less than a record 14,941 community cases reported yesterday.

Lowest death rate in OECD
Epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker of Otago University said this country still had the lowest death rate from covid-19 in the OECD by a large margin.

“The pandemic is now thought to have killed about 20 million people across the globe,” he said.

“And they’re mainly in countries where, obviously, they’ve had limited resources, or they’ve had very poor leadership from the governments.

“It’s interesting to see, in somewhere like Russia, the pandemic has now killed almost 0.8 percent of the entire population.”

The Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Centre reported 86,140 cases of covid-19 and 56 deaths today.

The centre reported more than 435 million cases of the virus and 5.9 million deaths globally.

Professor Baker said he was still optimistic about the future, highlighting that life expectancy in New Zealand had risen by about eight months over the course of the pandemic — one of the only countries in which this has happened.

Russian life expectancy dropped
By comparison, the life expectancy of Russian residents had dropped by about two years, he said.

“We haven’t seen those kinds of impacts since the Second World War.”

Professor Baker said the outbreak would peak over the next month before declining. He warned that New Zealand would see tens of thousands of new infections every day, and the total number of people with covid-19 was likely to be much higher than the number of people that get tested.

However, he said New Zealand had fared well compared to other countries.

“By delaying the arrival of the omicron variant, it’s given us a good opportunity to get highly vaccinated and boosted. And also, we have what is called peak immunity, because we’ve had our vaccine doses and boosters very recently and that means we’re ready to meet this virus with a lot of antibodies.”

The Ministry of Health said more than two thirds of eligible New Zealanders had now had their booster dose, with 28,836 people receiving their boosters on Saturday.

Four people were arrested at the Parliament grounds anti-covid public health protest overnight — two for breaking bail conditions, one for possessing an offensive weapon and one for trespass.

Police said the number of protesters had shrunk to about 200 people.

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Hospitals across New Zealand are receiving anti-covid-19 mandate protesters returning from Parliament, and are pleading with those experiencing cold and flu symptoms to get tested and isolate.

There were mounting tensions at the Parliament protest today, where police have formed a line to keep protesters back.

More people have turned up in Wellington to join the event.

Officers are trying to block access for cars into the bus interchange area and are using a forklift to reposition concrete bollards.

Some protesters are driving past the area, shouting at police to leave.

Meanwhile, hospitals are now reporting visits from protesters returning from the anti-covid-19 mandate protest at Parliament, and are pleading with those experiencing cold and flu symptoms to get tested and isolate.

The Ministry of Health said hospitals throughout the country had reported visits from people who have been at the anti-mandate protest at Parliament before returning home.

Widespread disruptions
Thousands of protesters have occupied the grounds of Parliament and nearby Wellington central streets since their convoy arrived on February 7 creating widespread disruptions, with many ignoring social distancing rules and not wearing masks.

The occupation is now a location of interest after people infectious with covid-19 were confirmed to be among the crowd, and anyone who is there on the listed times and dates is asked to carefully monitor for symptoms, and follow instructions about what to do next if they have any.

In a statement today, the ministry said the protest was a potential super spreader event as the spread of omicron hit a new record of 13,606 community cases today.

Five of the 263 people in hospital with the coronavirus were in intensive care.

Early in the protest leading epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker of Otago University warned this could happen, saying people mixing with groups from outside their household, singing, eating together and sharing transport and accommodation was a recipe for the spread of omicron from those at the protest out to other communities.

Yesterday police called on protesters to take children home, saying the event was not safe for families.

More than 130 people have been arrested at the event, and media have reported Corrections has confirmed they have been monitoring a “small number” of criminals subject to GPS monitoring conditions who were at the event.

‘Reassurance patrols’
Sewage leaks and assaults have also been connected to the event.

Police are carrying out “reassurance patrols” for residents that live near the protest at parliament today, and said officers would continue to be visible at the protest site.

“The focus for police is to contain the current perimeters of the protest and continue to maintain a safe community for our Wellington residents,” they said.

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New Zealand police have moved to start clearing up the roads near Parliament in the capital Wellington, where protesters have clogged the roads with vehicles for more than a week.

But there has also been a significant increase in illegally parked vehicles in the area.

Some streets around Parliament could not be used since people protesting against covid-19 vaccine mandates clogged the roads with their vehicles, with public transport in the capital also having to be re-routed.

On Thursday, police estimated more than 400 cars, vans and campervans were ensconced in several streets alongside Parliament and today that estimate grew to 800.

The protest, which began on February 8, drew a crowd of more than 1000 people today.

Yesterday, Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said they were expecting more people to turn up to the protest over the weekend, and that they would implement a traffic management plan.

Despite police previously warning protesters to move their vehicles or face towing, they did not end up acting on the ultimatum, fearing an escalation.

Tow trucks relocating vehicles
But on Saturday afternoon, tow trucks were seen relocating illegally parked cars near Wellington railway station.

In a statement, police said there was an increase of people attending the protest today, as was anticipated.

“Police cleared illegally parked vehicles on Thorndon Quay today — 15 were moved by protesters after police spoke with them and two were towed.

“Police are also noting the registration of vehicles currently impeding traffic for follow up enforcement action, and structures such as tents and marquees are being removed from any site that does not form part of the main protest area.”

The cars were parked in the median strip in the middle of the road, and appear to be relocated to the side of the road.

Over a dozen police cleared traffic in the area and directed pedestrians to move away, when a small crowd began to gather.

Further up the road, traffic cones with “no parking” signs have been laid down on the curb of Bowen Street, where many cars remain illegally parked.

Sky Stadium at capacity
Police said the parking facility at Sky Stadium was at capacity, after they had previously encouraged protesters to move their vehicles there.

But they said they had “serious concerns” about health and safety as a concert at the protest site has been planned.

“We continue to maintain a highly visible, reassurance presence on site, and staff are engaging with the public and protesters to provide advice and, where necessary, take enforcement action.”

Police said they have attended at least six medical events within the protest and continued to urge anyone parked unlawfully to remove their vehicle to allow emergency services access.

Business and community leaders have been calling for an end to the blockade, saying it was adding stress to nearby residents and users.

Meanwhile, Marlborough Mayor John Leggett said protesters in Picton had made it clear they would not be moving until their counterparts in Wellington do.

Leggett said the council had been in contact with leaders of the action in Nelson Square, who had made their position clear.

He said the Picton occupiers were linked to the Wellington anti-mandate protest.

“To put it the other way, if Wellington [protest] is resolved, we will get a resolution here, a peaceful resolution, and they’ve made it very clear that their occupation is linked entirely to what’s happening in Wellington so there needs to be some way of resolving the Wellington situation.”

Police today said they were also maintaining a presence at that protest, as well as another one in Christchurch.

1901 new community cases – down slightly
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health reported that the number of new daily community cases of covid-19 has fallen slightly from yesterday’s record, with 1901 new cases today.

There were also 14 cases identified at the border, including five historical cases.

There was a record 1929 community cases reported yesterday.

There have now been 28,360 cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand since the pandemic began.

The ministry said there are 76 people in hospital with the coronavirus. None are in ICU.

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The one million New Zealanders who are so far delaying getting their booster shots are the biggest concern of top covid-19 adviser Sir David Skegg.

Phase two of New Zealand’s Omicron response plan begins at 11.59pm tonight, as daily cases rocket toward the 1000 mark.

Sir David, who is chair of the Strategic Covid-19 Public Health Advisory Group, said Aotearoa is much more ready than any other country he can think of to face an omicron outbreak on a large scale.

The experience of other countries has shown New Zealand that the country cannot beat omicron in the way it beat the original virus and to a large extent Delta, he said.

“I see this as a strategic withdrawal. It has been carefully planned. It shows that omicron is now getting the upper hand.”

He praised public health officials for their “Rolls-Royce” contact tracing but said there was now no choice except to move to phase two.

However, his greatest concern is the numbers who are still to get their booster shot, he told RNZ Morning Report.

Two doses ‘not adequate’
“I’m amazed that there’s more than a million New Zealanders who are eligible for the booster dose who have not yet taken up that opportunity. This is crazy.

“I think it’s time we stopped talking about people being fully vaccinated if they’ve only had two doses.”

The virus had mutated, Sir David said, and omicron was better at evading the vaccine immunity.

“So two doses of the vaccine doesn’t give adequate protection.”

He urged all those eligible to make an appointment or get it done today.

“No point having it in a few weeks after you’ve become sick.”

He referred to Denmark which has a similar population to New Zealand and is sometimes held up as a covid-19 success story.

He pointed out that it had seen 4000 deaths and was still having around 27 people die daily whereas Aotearoa’s total death toll in two years was 53.

Challenges face the country
“The next few months are going to be very challenging for this country. We are going to experience something of what those other countries had, so I think we all need to fasten our seat belts.

“It’s not just health although many of us will become sick and a considerable number will die. It’s also going to affect business, it’s going to affect social life and it’s going to affect education. The best thing people we can do right now is get boosted.”

He said people were tired of the pandemic but now was not the time to be considering removing restrictions.

While there was some fragmentation on the best way to deal with covid-19, there was also a consensus that New Zealanders did not want to see large numbers of people get seriously ill or die.

He said as an older person he would be doing his best to avoid getting the virus. He would be restricting his contact with other people while trying to live as normal a life as possible.

Pragmatic managing of omicron
Te Pūnaha Matatini principal investigator Dr Dion O’Neale says phase two is a pragmatic way to manage the growing omicron outbreak.

He told Morning Report that the high numbers of the last couple of days were pulling the country back in line with what the modelling had been predicting for a while.

“So we’ve seen overseas and we’d expect to see in New Zealand doubling times every three days. So that’s your trend.

“On top of that there will be little ups and downs … from here they go up.”

Dr O’Neal said the country had been able to slow down the spread of omicron, due mainly to the work of contact tracers. Their efforts had “put the brakes on” a growth of cases.

However, once case numbers got high there was not enough capacity to contact trace for every case and the spread would speed up, leading to the inevitable decision to move to phase two.

New system more online focused
“It’s an acknowledgement that with these high case numbers systems and processes they won’t have the capacity to deal with the large numbers and we need to try and change how we respond to covid.”

Until now, the contact tracing system has been very personal with contact names identified and these people are then rung and given advice.

The new system will be more online focused, with a text message with a positive result sent, and then the person will be asked to fill in an online form and the information is passed on.

O’Neal said it would be important for people to pass on information on possible exposures as quickly as possible, not waiting for official processes which might be slower as systems became stretched.

“Go home and take your children” — that was New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s plea yesterday to protesters remaining at Parliament.

Despite being trespassed from Parliament grounds a week ago, protesters remain on the Parliament lawn and show no sign of leaving in spite of a new record 981 community covid-19 cases yesterday.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

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“Go home and take your children” — that was New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s plea to protesters remaining at Parliament today.

Despite being trespassed from Parliament grounds a week ago, protesters remain on the Parliament lawn and show no sign of leaving in spite of a new record 981 community covid-19 cases today.

There were about 3000 present over the weekend protesting over covid mandates and public health measures.

Ardern announced that New Zealand would move to Phase Two of the omicron plan at 11.59pm on February 15, when the period of home isolation reduces.

She said the increase in covid-19 cases was not unexpected and the country would stay in Phase Two as long as daily cases remained between 1000 and 5000 cases.

Earlier today, Ardern told RNZ Morning Report: “I think we all want [the protesters] to leave”.

“What’s become very clear is this is not any form of protest I’ve seen before and we’ve seen a lot, you know, and I think we’ve said time and time again, New Zealand is a place where protest is part of who we are.

“Some of our greatest movements have been born of people movements, many of which have entered the forecourt of Parliament.

“But what I’m seeing, it is some kind of imported form of protest.

‘Trump flags, Canadian flags’
“We’ve seen Trump flags, Canadian flags, people who are moving around the outskirts of the area with masks are being abused.

“Children and young people on their way to school are being abused. Businesses are seeing people occupy their spaces.

“This is beyond a protest.”

The Morning Report interview. Video: RNZ News

She did not believe the protest should continue and had specific concern for the children there, saying it was not an appropriate place for them.

“Do I believe that they should be there? No. Should they go home? Yes. Especially, especially the children.

Asked if it was time for an “olive branch” gesture or for politicians to meet and talk with protesters, Ardern said their actions did “not create a space where there’s any sense that they want dialogue”.

“What I have seen down on that forecourt does not suggest to me that this is a group that are interested in engaging in policy development.

Signs calling for ‘death of politicians’
“There are signs down there calling for the death of politicians.”

As for the management of the situation, that was for police, she said.

Police today were appealing to protesters to work with them to try to clear the streets of Wellington.

Wellington district commander Superintendent Corrie Parnell said they did not plan to wait the protesters out.

Police “ultimately need to be able to make all of those operational decisions,” Ardern said.

“It is absolutely for the police to determine how they manage any form of occupation or protests. And you can understand why that is a convention we will hold strongly to.

“I would hate to see in the future a situation where you have politicians seen to be instructing the police on how to manage any type of protest — and that extends to not passing judgment on operational decisions that are for them.”

Out-of-tune music tactics
Asked about tactics used by Parliament’s Speaker Trevor Mallard over the weekend — out-of-tune music and Covid-19 vaccination ads being played to protesters — Ardern said: “I would also enforce the difference in our different roles here, the Speaker exists on behalf of all parliamentarians.

“His job is to, of course, maintain a safe place to work. Right now it is a very difficult place for people to enter and the one piece of context I’ll just give is that it has not been a silent protest.

“What I’ve heard are clear anti-vaccination messages that do not align with the vast majority of New Zealanders.

“Media, when they’ve stepped onto the forecourt, have been abused and chased and called liars.

“So some of the rhetoric and noise coming from the protest has been pretty poor.”

A discussion on Mallard’s tactics was “not a fray” Ardern wanted get into, she said.

Other covid control tools being used
As for covid-19 restrictions, Ardern said “we’ve only used what’s been necessary. That’s why we’re not using lockdowns anymore — because we now have other tools that means we don’t need to use those harsher form of measures, and we will continue to move away from them.

“But when we’re in the middle of a growing pandemic, that is not the time to move away from those things that keep us safe…

“When it comes to everything from the use of vaccine passes to the use of mandates, you’ve seen with other countries that they have been in the position to start lessening the use of those as they progress through the pandemic and got to a place where you see more stabilisation and a steady management within the health system.

“That is what we would move to as well. It is fairly difficult to put timelines or criteria on that when of course we are dealing with different variants that can come anytime.

“[I am] always loath to set up a situation you then can’t follow through on because of a changing situation, so instead I give the principle: As soon as we can move away, we will move away.

“We’ve done that with lockdowns. We’re opening the borders, we are easing restrictions that have been quite impactful for everyday lives.

“But right now, the ones we still have are going to help us get through omicron.”

981 new community cases
The Ministry of Health reports that there are 981 new community cases of covid-19 in New Zealand today.

In a statement, the ministry said the new cases were in Northland (21), Auckland (768), Waikato (82), Bay of Plenty (23), Lakes (12), Hawke’s Bay (5), MidCentral (5), Taranaki (1), Tairāwhiti (6), Wellington (6), Hutt Valley (14), Wairarapa (12), Nelson Marlborough (2), Canterbury (4), South Canterbury (1) and Southern (19).

“Once again, the further increase in new cases today is another reminder that, as expected, the highly transmissible omicron variant is now spreading in our communities as we have seen in other countries,” the ministry said.

Thirty-nine people with covid-19 are in hospitals in Whangārei, Auckland, Waikato, Rotorua, Wellington and Christchurch — however, none in ICU or HDU.

The average age of hospitalisations is 55.

At the border, there are 25 new covid-19 cases — eight of which are historical. The cases at the border are from India, Malaysia and 14 of them are unknown.

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Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has confirmed that the whole of New Zealand will move into the red light covid-19 setting at midnight Sunday night (January 23, 2022) in response to the covid-19 pandemic.

Nine covid-19 cases in Nelson yesterday have been confirmed as the omicron variant, Ardern said.

Another household member has since tested positive.

They are one family and recently attended a wedding and other events in Auckland and there is no clear link to the border.

Ardern said there were well over 100 people at these events.

The family was on the same flight as an Air New Zealand flight attendant who tested positive. All members of the family who were eligible have been double vaccinated, Ardern said.

“That means omicron is now circulating in Auckland and possibly the Nelson-Marlborough region, if not elsewhere,” Ardern said.

Focus on slowing the spread
Ardern said the focus is on slowing the spread of the omicron variant and the strategy includes rapid tests, contact tracing and isolating cases and contacts.

New Zealand’s system has “significant capacity” to work on stamping out outbreaks due to low case numbers, she said.

Watch the NZ government media briefing today. Video: RNZ News

“We know we will see far more cases than we have in the two years to date, but the difference to previous outbreaks is we are vaccinated and we are better prepared.”

Ardern encouraged New Zealanders to get their boosters saying it will help limit the spread and limit the likelihood of someone getting sick or needing to go to hospital.

She also encouraged parents and caregivers to seek out information about vaccines for their children.

Already, 20 percent of children aged 5-11 have been vaccinated or are booked to receive their vaccination.

Red light setting
Ardern reminded people the red light settings was not a lockdown.

She said it had restrictions, but business was still open, gathering numbers were reduced and differed depending on whether people were vaccinated or not.

Hospitality was seated and required a single server.

She said schools remained open, with mask wearing for everyone from year 4 upwards.

Ardern said school ventilation systems would be assessed.

Ardern encouraged households to have a “buddy” to help with food, for example, if someone in a household was unwell from covid-19.

The government had been preparing for three stages in its response to omicron, Ardern said.

Phase one includes the period up to 1000 cases a day or less. This is expected to take up to 14 days to arrive, and involves a “stamping-out approach”, she said. That includes contact tracing, isolation and testing anyone with symptoms at a community testing station or primary health provider. PCR tests will be used, but rapid antigen tests will also be rolled out to these providers.

In stage one people will need to isolate for 14 days if they are a case or a contact.

Stage two is a transition stage where the system is adjusted to identifying those at greater risk of omicron and where there is the greatest risk of severe illness from omicron.

When asked, Ardern said her wedding would not be going ahead under the red setting.

Ardern said New Zealand was not likely to enter stage three for a few weeks.

Stage three will involve changes to contact tracing. It will include the definition of contacts and isolation requirements and more details will be provided on Wednesday.

“It’s important to remember covid is a different foe to what it was at the beginning,” Ardern said.

Because of vaccinations, it would be a mild to moderate illness which could be managed at home, she said.

But she said the “team” still needed to do what it could to slow it down, as some people are immuno-compromised and more vulnerable to the virus.

When asked if cabinet had considered funding N95 masks, Ardern said there would be an assessment on mask advice to consider if there needed to be an update.

Risk of undetected omicron transmission ‘high’ – Bloomfield
Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said anyone with symptoms should get tested for Covid-19.

He said the risk of undetected transmission of the omicron variant in Auckland was considered high, because the Nelson family that had tested positive spent time at a wedding there.

New locations of interest will be listed on the Ministry of Health’s website.

There are five Air New Zealand flights that are locations of interest, which include the flights the infected family took, and the flights the flight attendant worked on.

• Flight NZ5083 from Auckland to Nelson at 5.20pm on 16 January
• NZ5080 Nelson to Auckland at 4pm on 19 January
• NZ5077 Auckland to Nelson at 2pm on 19 January
• NZ5049 Auckland to New Plymouth at 7.50pm on 19 January
• NZ5042 New Plymouth to Auckland at 1.50pm on 20 January

Contacts who have been at a location of interest were legally required to isolate and get tested as per Section 70, Dr Bloomfield said.

The risk of undetected transmission was judged as being high, as it was unclear how they became infected and they attended a wedding, he said.

As of 11pm last night, 150 of 192 people on the Air New Zealand flights had been contacted by health officials.

Attendees at the wedding have attended other venues with high numbers of people, including a funeral, an amusement park, the Sky Tower and domestic airports.

It is expected the number of cases and contacts will grow, Dr Bloomfield said.

Dr Bloomfield said people who needed medical care could receive it, and urged them to not put it off. Hospitals are at 84 percent occupancy, which was typical at this time of year, and ICU occupancy was under 70 percent.

Wage subsidy scheme for sick/isolating workers – Robertson
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Grant Robertson said the economic disruption from the omicron variant was expected to be more on the supply side of things — as seen overseas.

He said the initial focus was on those unable to be at work because they were infected or were a close contact isolating.

Support for these people included the Covid-19 Leave Support Scheme, which was paid at the same rate as the Wage Subsidy Scheme.

There would also be a scheme in place for people unable to work from home when waiting on covid-19 test results.

Robertson said New Zealand could afford the financial support the government was providing — and if anything, cannot afford to not provide it.

He said the country’s debt is lower than expected in part because of the wider covid-19 action taken in New Zealand.

Robertson said the scenario planning shows there could be 350,00 people self-isolating at once at the mid-point scenario planning, which would be with 25,000 cases.

Samoa announces 48-hour lockdown
In Samoa, RNZ Pacific reports that Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa had announced the country would be going into lockdown from last night at 6pm until 6pm on Monday evening.

Only essential services would be allowed but all offices and shops, including all public transport, would be closed. Churches were also closed.

“No vehicles will be allowed on the roads during his time and police will be monitoring,” she said.

The prime minister said the decision was to ensure proper measures were in place to avert community transmission.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is warning New Zealand’s covid-19 case numbers in 2022 will be unlike anything seen here before.

Jacinda Ardern today delivered her first speech of the year — to Labour MPs gathered in New Plymouth for their annual caucus retreat.

The speech was largely focused on covid-19 and the omicron variant, which she described as a “different foe”.

“We know … that omicron is in every corner of the world at the moment. And we also know that there will be other variants. And we know that we will experience in New Zealand cases at a level that we haven’t experienced before.”

Ardern stressed the government had and was continuing to prepare for an omicron outbreak in the community.

“But it will not be without its challenges, though, we are facing a trickier enemy given it keeps evolving,” she said.

“But in my view, and I’m sure in the view of everyone in this room, we can move into 2022 feeling resolute about what is required, because we’ve seen what is required and confident because on reflection of what we’ve gone through, we know that when we build a plan, that it will end can make an absolute difference and that’s exactly what we’re doing.”

Progress needed in other areas
Despite the challenges thrown up by the pandemic, Ardern stressed the government must continue to make progress in other areas.

Its attention would be on keeping the economy “humming”, progressing health reforms, lifting children out of poverty, as well as having a sharp focus on climate change and mental health, Ardern said.

The government was also looking to expand its trade arrangements, with Ardern participating in EU trade talks over summer.

“Our eye is on the prize with EU this year. I was in talks even over summer, so that’s an agreement that I know will continue to make a difference for exporters and will be a big focus.”

Work on the EU trade deal will work alongside the government’s plan to re-open the borders, Ardern said.

There would be an increased amount of international travel for the government and exporters in 2022, she said.

“Labour has demonstrated our ability to manage challenges and change and will continue to demonstrate our ability to manage challenges and change when it comes to climate, housing, poverty, and everything that we continue to face as a nation.”

Northland to join orange setting
Prime Minister Ardern later announced Northland would join the rest of the country in the orange traffic light setting from 11.59pm tonight, and signalled plans for omicron.

Cabinet ministers met yesterday to assess the traffic light settings across the country, including whether Northland would drop to the orange setting.

Ardern announced this afternoon the region would change settings tonight.

“Vaccination rates have continued to increase in Northland and are now at 89 percent first dose. The easing of the Auckland boundary over summer did not drive an increase in cases so we believe it is safe for Northland to join the rest of the country at orange,” she said.

Testing has found 39 new community cases of covid-19 and one new possible omicron case in Palmerston North, the Ministry of Health announced today.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

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The Cook Islands has reopened its borders to fully vaccinated New Zealanders, but with less fanfare and more trepidation than last year’s kick-off.

The two-way quarantine-free travel bubble lasted just three months in 2021 before authorities pulled the pin due to Auckland’s delta outbreak of covid-19.

Since then, the island nation has vaccinated close to 100 percent of its eligible population, paving the way for today’s reconnection.

Resort operator Tata Crocombe told RNZ News today’s excitement was mixed with fear and apprehension given previous setbacks.

“We’ve been open and closed before. Omicron is running away in Australia. There’s so much uncertainty.”

Crocombe, owner of the Rarotongan Beach Resort, said initial demand had been modest, below what he had hoped and expected.

“There’s no stampede [of tourists] this time. This has been very muted, very measured, very slow.”

Summer months typically quiet
He said the summer months were typically quiet for the Cook Islands, but believed demand was also down due to traveller fatigue with tourists delaying plans due to the constant uncertainty.

“If you listen to our colleagues in Queenstown, they’re not even getting the Aucklanders to move to Queenstown in the numbers they would’ve expected, so the market is definitely spooked.”

Cook Islands Tourism Industry Council president Liana Scott said that concern was widespread in the industry.

“There’s a lot of nervousness … a little bit of fear,” Scott said. “There’s worry that we’re opening to very low occupancy.”

Scott, who manages the Muri Beach Club Hotel, said most properties were at 30-40 percent capacity over the next few months, but would pick up from April onwards.

“Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise,” she said.

“We haven’t had covid here … perhaps a slower start does allow us to adapt to some of the new procedures and practices that have come on board.”

Turn around for winter
Cook Islands Tourism Australasia general manager Graeme West said bookings were “reasonably quiet” for the next few months, but that would turn around as New Zealand moved into winter.

“Given we’re starting mid-January, the demand has been good, but not as crazy as last time. From April on, we’re seeing very good bookings.”

House of Travel chief operating officer Brent Thomas said it would take a long time for international travel to return to pre-covid-19 levels, but the Cook Islands was well placed to bounce back.

“The Cook Islands itself is actually a relatively small destination in terms of its capacity so it’s not some place that takes a lot to fill it up.”

Air New Zealand’s chief operational integrity and safety officer David Morgan said the airline had “strong demand” for bookings this month, with “some seat availability in late January and February”.

The airline was offering a daily service between Auckland and Rarotonga but would adjust the schedule “where possible” as it monitored demand.

Only double-vaccinated travellers, from the age of 12 up, will be allowed into the Pacific nation, with a negative covid-19 test required no more than 48 hours before departure.

Once in Rarotonga, passengers will need to take a rapid antigen test before travelling on to Aitutaki.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

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New Zealand covid-19 experts are nervously observing an ever-increasing number of cases at the border, as the threat of an omicron outbreak looms.

The highly transmissible variant has rapidly spread around the globe and New Zealand has dodged a community outbreak so far.

But with the escalating number of overseas returnees testing positive, there are fears a new wave of the virus could be out in the community within weeks.

Epidemiologist and University of Otago professor Michael Baker called the variant a “huge threat” and said it was not a matter of if there was an outbreak, but when.

Professor Baker was concerned there may have been undetected transmission of the virus — whether that was the delta or omicron variant — during the Christmas and New Year period.

“It will take a while for people to people to develop symptoms if they were exposed. Everyone should be aware of getting any cold or flu symptoms, which is unusual for this time of year.”

MIQ hotels well set up
A Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ) spokesperson told RNZ the hotels were well set up to cater for omicron cases and a number of precautionary measures were in place to manage the risk.

This included travellers staying 10 days in MIQ and undergoing four tests during that time.

Anyone who tested positive was treated as an omicron case until proven otherwise by genome sequencing.

Despite these measures, Dr Baker was doubtful the country could make it through the month without the omicron variant escaping.

“We’re getting more than 20 cases a day in the last three days. That’s going to put huge strain on the MIQ system, as we know every infected that arrives increases the risk of border failure.”

Microbiologist Dr Siouxsie Wiles, who is an associate professor at the University of Auckland, told RNZ Morning Report that rather than embracing the arrival of the new variant as some have done, Aotearoa needed to be prepared for its arrival.

‘Back to where we started’
“We’re kind of back where we started again, and what we really need to be doing is trying to delay that coming into our community for as long as possible so we can get everybody with that third booster dose and so that we can also get the vaccine rollout started and hopefully finished with our children,” she said.

“There is no controlled spread with omicron, I think it’s an absolutely ridiculous idea.

“There’s being prepared for it to come and then there’s welcoming it with open arms and all we have to look at is everywhere around the world doing open arms and it’s just not working at all.”

There were 64 new border-related cases in MIQ during the weekend, bringing the total to 227.

University of Otago senior lecturer Dr Lesley Gray said this did not bode well.

“We know that for every approximately 100 that we have in MIQ there is a risk that there might be one that might end up in the community.”

From January 7, travellers to New Zealand must return a negative test within 48 hours of their departure, down from 72 hours.

Catching virus in short time-frame
Director of Public Health Dr Caroline McElnay had previously said that people may have been incubating covid-19 before their flight or been exposed during their travel.

Dr Gray was concerned people were catching the virus within that short-time frame.

“We do have to ask the questions of ‘how, what, when, and why’. As these people travel, they’re distanced for the most part on the planes, when they’re in airports they’re wearing masks and they have to take a reasonable number of precautions,” she said.

She urged New Zealanders to ask themselves if they were ready for an omicron outbreak.

This included having adequate supplies and a suitable place to quarantine if needed.

She said getting a booster shot, scanning in, mask-wearing, and testing were among the best tools to tackle omicron.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

As some North Island regions moved to the orange traffic light setting at 11.59pm last night, New Zealand has now found two omicron cases that were briefly in the community, and close contacts are urgently being chased up.

As a British DJ outed himself as the omicron community case identified yesterday, Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins yesterday expressed his disappointment in the musician’s non-compliance with rules.

Robert Etheridge, also known as DJ Dimension, went out into the community on December 26 and 27 after 10 days of isolation but before he received his final covid-19 test result.

As such, he has faced abuse online over the matter.

“I want to reiterate my apologies to those who I have inadvertently put at risk as a result of my misunderstandings,” he wrote in an Instagram post.

“I realise the gravity of the situation and I am deeply regretful to those who have been impacted; including members of the public, event organisers and close contacts.”

Etheridge had tested negative to the virus three times before while in isolation. It was also revealed today that he completed his three-day self-isolation period (after seven days in MIQ) on Waiheke Island.

“We understand they travelled by private car and ferry to the island. While on the ferry they did not leave their vehicle and travelled straight to their accommodation.”

Race to get to close contacts
The DJ was due to play at Wanaka’s Rhythm and Alps festival but had been forced to pull out, along with another DJ known as Friction and artist Lee Matthews, who were considered close contacts.

Fourteen people who dined with Etheridge at Soul restaurant are also considered close contacts.

Eight of those people remain in Auckland, while six flew to Christchurch where they performed at the Hidden Lakes Festival on December 28. But the Canterbury District Health Board considered the risk to be extremely low.

“All identified close contacts are being urgently contacted by contact tracers,” the Ministry of Health said.

But the exact number of contacts is still being confirmed and identified, according to Hipkins.

He told media today that while Etheridge was on Waiheke Island, he had drinks on the beach with neighbours, who have been told to self-isolate.

Epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker said the fact that three of the case’s four Waiheke Island housemates had tested negative so far may suggest he was not infectious at the time.

“But again we will just have to await more of those results.”

However, the source of Etheridge’s infection remains a mystery because his case has not been able to be genomically linked to the other omicron cases that were in MIQ when he was there.

Microbiologist Dr Siouxsie Wiles said people should be aware that the incubation period for this highly infectious variant could be longer than what they believe.

“It’s just really important that we don’t think that seven days [of isolation] is okay and that people are still cautious … After receiving several negative tests, people could still be incubating the virus and that’s what it shows us.”

Second omicron case
The Ministry of Health yesterday reported there were 60 new community cases of covid-19 and 11 at the border.

Five of the international arrivals came from Australia, two from the United Kingdom, two from Singapore, one from United Arab Emirates, and one from Ethiopia.

Surveillance testing on December 27 of an Air New Zealand crew member has returned a positive result, with genome sequencing finding it is the omicron variant.

Their infection has been genomically linked to three other omicron cases from a December 24 flight that the person worked on between Auckland and Sydney.

New Zealand-based international aircrew are mostly exempt from a 14-day isolation or quarantine period as long as they meet certain conditions.

So far for this case, no locations of interest have been identified, but there are eight close contacts — seven of whom have tested negative so far.

The case was immediately transferred to a MIQ facility.

And with positive cases reaching 33 in Rotorua yesterday, iwi-lead health provider Te Arawa Covid-19 Response Hub is stepping up its testing abilities by training more staff.

Meanwhile, across the Tasman two team players and one staff member of the men’s Wellington Phoenix football have tested positive to the virus. The team is currently based in New South Wales, where cases topped 12,000 today.

‘We need to throw everything we can at it’
In light of the cases, the National Party is calling on the government to allow people to get their booster shot sooner, bring forward the timeline for children’s vaccines, and use more rapid antigen testing.

Covid-19 response spokesperson Chris Bishop said there were people who had passed four months since their second dose and had been turned away when they tried to get their booster injection.

The booster rollout had been causing some confusion for people and frontline staff. But the Ministry of Health last week clarified that providers could give anyone eligible their booster dose if they had supply.

Meanwhile, the National Māori Authority said it was not too late to introduce tougher border restrictions.

Chairman Matthew Tukaki said the government should shut the borders to anyone who was not a resident or citizen.

“We can’t afford any more unnecessary prolonged lockdowns, so anything we can do to limit the exposure of Omicron until we can get ahead of this, then I think we need to throw everything we can at it.”

Tukaki said the government should also consider extending the amount of time people from high-risk countries spend in MIQ.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

New Zealand’s Māori vaccination rate continues to tick up, with several district health boards (DHBs) now past 90 percent for first doses.

But experts are warning rates are still far too low — with only 78 percent fully vaccinated — and with Omicron at the door, the danger the pandemic poses for Māori is still very real.

Christchurch GP Maira Patu has been at the forefront of the Māori vaccine rollout in Canterbury for much of the year, a rollout that this week hit 92 percent first doses for Māori.

“Man we’re exhausted,” she said. “It’s been hard work but it is great to see that our service and hard work has paid off. It’s amazing isn’t it.”

It was an amazing turnaround, she said, after a somewhat sluggish start.

“It’s been a struggle with getting funding and up and running. I have to admit that the CDHB has been very supportive and allowed us to operate with a kaupapa Māori service.

“But it has been a struggle, particularly around the age range. It should have been younger for Māori from the start. We should have had an opportunity to have more mobile clinics.”

‘By Māori, For Māori’ approach
In recent months, though, after a “By Māori, For Māori” approach kicked off and clinics went mobile, things changed rapidly, she said.

Six other DHBS have reached the 90 percent first dose milestone for Māori, including Auckland, the two Wellington DHBs, Wairarapa and Southern.

Another is MidCentral, based in Palmerston North but covering Tararua, Manawatū and Ōtaki, which passed the 90 percent threshold this week.

The DHB’s iwi and Māori engagement lead, Adele Small, said working at an equal level with Māori — as well as making sometimes cumbersome health services more agile — has been critical.

“Absolutely crucial, they know their communities and they’re so much closer to their communities and in touch with what their needs and requirements are.

“We just wouldn’t be able to get the buy in without working with them, and they’ve been in pivotal with telling us where we need to be; what times of the day, what businesses to approach.”

But while it’s a milestone to celebrate, no one is under any illusions.

Māori behind for full vaccination
This is just 90 percent for first doses — in MidCentral’s area, and nationally, Māori are still well behind for full vaccination.

This week, the Waitangi Tribunal blasted the government for the vaccine rollout, saying its very structure left Māori vulnerable.

The director of operations for Auckland’s Waipareira Trust, Irirangi Mako, said getting vaccinated was still too difficult for many.

“Those barriers to access just can’t be underestimated. It’s all very well to say. ‘you’ve got a vax centre here at this place’.

“But if you’ve got tamariki at home and you have no transport, even if the bus stop is right outside your house, that doesn’t mean access to being vaccinated, or an opportunity to speak to someone about that is easy.”

Covid data analyst Rawiri Taonui said it was important to bear in mind a statistical undercount of Māori.

He also said the covid outbreak is still very much a Māori outbreak. Most new cases each day are Māori, he said, and Māori hospitalisations are still increasing.

Risk over community transfer
“While overall numbers have been declining in recent weeks — including for Māori — he does not expect it to last.

“The likely scenario is as more people move from Auckland go to holiday spots, we’ll see a number of pockets and outbreaks. The risk is that will transfer over into some undervaccinated Māori communities.”

With Omicron at the door, the remaining work is even more urgent, particularly when it comes to the large tamariki Māori population.

In Palmerston North, Adele Small said they have to keep going.

“We’re just gonna keep going. We know we have a lot of work to keep doing and we know the vaccine is one of our best defences,” she said.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

More moves to tighten the New Zealand’s borders may be needed on top of the decision to delay the start of the self-isolation scheme for Australian travellers, a professor of public health says.

Today, the government announced cabinet has decided to delay the self-isolation scheme.

Instead of travellers being allowed to self-isolate from January 17 the change will take effect from the end of February.

For those who had booked to come home to New Zealand from Australia from January 17, the government would work with airlines to ensure some MIQ space was available, Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said at a media update.

Air New Zealand has already cancelled about 120 flights, mostly from across the Tasman, as a result of the changes.

The rapid spread worldwide of the omicron variant of covid-19 is the main reason for the policy rethink.

It is among changes announced today that include a vaccine rollout for five to 11 year olds from January and a reduction in the time to wait for booster shots — from six months to four months.

Public health experts welcome change
The changes are being welcomed by public health experts, with Professor Nick Wilson from Otago University saying that the delay in self-isolation was the most important.

He said temporarily turning down the tap on international travellers from countries with the worst omicron outbreaks (at least for two to three months) may also be needed.

New South Wales officials over the weekend noted omicron was now likely the dominant strain in the state’s third outbreak, in which today alone it recorded more than 3000 cases.

But Professor Wilson said the government may also need to:

• insist on rapid antigen tests at the airport for international travellers coming into Aotearoa;
• make more improvements to MIQ facilities in terms of ventilation and avoiding shared spaces such as exercise areas; and
• re-design the alert level system so that it can rapidly eliminate any outbreaks of the omicron variant that arise in the community.

“While there is still a lot of uncertainty around the omicron variant, especially the risk of severe disease, it is wise to try to keep it out of NZ as long as possible and until more is known about this variant,” Professor Wilson said.

No clear evidence of lower severity
Dr Matthew Hobbs, a senior lecturer in public health at the University of Canterbury, said he was concerned that a recent study from Imperial College London showed no clear evidence that omicron had lower severity than delta.

“Though it will be disappointing for many, through reviewing and postponing current border reopening plans, New Zealand has bought itself some much needed time while it works out how much of a problem omicron could be — like the last time we closed the Trans-Tasman bubble,” he said.

“It also provides us with a few more crucial months to get the booster shots up and roll out the paediatric vaccines.”

Dr Hobbs suggested the vaccination requirement for arrivals could be raised to three doses to reduce the risk of Omicron coming to New Zealand.

“More broadly, we also need to shift our domestic focus to a global perspective. The root of this issue is that the world isn’t doing enough to stop the spread of covid-19,” Dr Hobbs said.

“Wealthy countries around the world continue to hoard vaccines. This ultimately gives the virus more opportunities to replicate and mutate.

“Omicron should act as the wake-up call to ensure worldwide equitable vaccine delivery before even more concerning variants emerge.”

Omicron would ‘reach NZ quickly from Australia’
Professor Michael Plank, from Te Pūnaha Matatini and the University of Canterbury, said the rapidly growing omicron outbreak in New South Wales and its spread to other Australian states meant it would almost certainly get into the community in New Zealand within weeks if the country went ahead with border reopening plans in January.

“Delaying reopening plans to the end of February gives us a chance to keep omicron out until the majority of adults have received their third dose of the vaccine,” he said.

“Increasing the MIQ stay to 10 days and shortening the pre-departure test period from 72 to 48 hours are sensible ways to reduce the risk of the highly transmissible Omicron variant leaking out of MIQ. Adding a requirement for a rapid test on the day of the departure would be a useful extra measure.

“Hopefully these measures will keep omicron contained at the border. But if omicron does find its way into the community, the government has said it intends to use the red level of the traffic light system to try and control its spread.

“It’s unlikely this would be sufficient to prevent rapid spread of the variant if community transmission became established.

“Rolling out booster doses as quickly as possible is therefore essential to minimising the risk that omicron overwhelms our healthcare system.”

Hipkins also noted in the announcement today that the variant would spread quickly if it was in the community, and that public health advice suggested that soon every case coming into our border will be the omicron variant.

28 new covid-19 community cases
The Ministry of Health reported today there are 28 new cases of covid-19 in the community, and no new omicron cases in Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ).

In a statement, the ministry said of the new cases, 21 were in Auckland, five in Bay of Plenty, and two in Taranaki.

There are 57 cases in hospital, 10 in North Shore, 25 in Auckland, 19 in Middlemore, one in Northland, and two in Waikato. Seven cases are in ICU or HDU (one in North Shore; two in Auckland; three in Middlemore, one in Northland).

The ministry has also revealed that a recent returnee who left Middlemore Hospital without discharge, after being transferred from MIQ, also took their young child with them.

The child was transferred in the ambulance with the parent because it meant they could not be left unattended in managed isolation due to their age.

Police are currently investigating the incident which happened early on Monday morning.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ. The public health comments in this report were put together by the Science Media Centre. Professor Michael Plank is partly funded by the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet for research on mathematical modelling of covid-19.

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