20 community cases of Covid; one death; two new cases in managed isolation; more than 86,000 vaccines administered yesterday

There are 20 new community cases of COVID-19 to report today, all in Auckland.

Sadly, today we are reporting the death last night in North Shore hospital of a woman in her 90s who was a confirmed case of COVID-19. The woman had a number of underlying health conditions.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern expressed her condolences to the family and loved ones of the person who passed away from COVID-19 overnight.

"Every death is a reminder of the damage COVID-19 can cause when it gets into our community.

"Our older New Zealanders and those with underlying health issues are by far the most at risk from the virus and one of the reasons lockdowns are such an important tool to stop its spread."

Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said: "On behalf of New Zealanders, I want to recognise this family's loss.

"This is a time for us all to offer our deep sympathy, while also respecting the family's privacy."

The woman's underlying health conditions and the state of her health meant it was not clinically appropriate for her to receive ventilator or ICU care.

Her whānau was regularly updated and had the opportunity to speak with her regularly by phone. The whânau has been offered cultural support by the DHB.

The woman was admitted to hospital on 28 August from home. She was a household contact of a case and had been confirmed as a case before admission to hospital.

Message from her whānau:

"The whānau is devastated and shocked by the loss of their loved one and wish to thank all of the essential workers who have guided and helped them over the past few days."

A family member spoken with this morning urges everyone to take COVID-19 seriously and follow public health advice – his message for New Zealanders is simple: "This is real."

Cases

• Number of new community cases: 20
• Number of new cases identified at the border: 2
• Location of new cases: Auckland
• Location of community cases (total): Auckland 765 (includes 52 recoveries); Wellington 17 (includes two recoveries)
• Number of community cases (total): 782 (in current community outbreak)
• Cases infectious in the community: 30% of yesterday's cases have exposure events
• Cases in isolation throughout the period they were infected: 70% of yesterday's cases
• Cases epidemiologically linked: 16 of today's cases
• Cases to be epidemiologically linked: 4 of today's cases
• Cases epidemiologically linked (total): 752 (in current cluster) (30 unlinked)
• Number of sub-clusters: Eight. The two largest subclusters are the Mangere church group: 352; and Birkdale social network cluster: 74
• Cases in hospital: 43 (total): North Shore (10); Middlemore (18); Auckland (15).
• Cases in ICU or HDU: 7
• Confirmed cases (total): 3,391 since pandemic began
• Historical cases, since 1 Jan 2021 (total): 127 out of 1,570 since 1 Jan 2021

Contacts

• Number of contacts identified (total): 37,857
• Percentage who have received outbound call from contact tracers (to confirm testing and isolation requirements): 84%
• Percentage with at least one test result: 90%

Locations of interest

• Locations of interest (total): 144 (as at 9am 4 September)

*Tests

• Number of tests (total): 3,048,105
• Number of tests total (last 24 hours): 11,037
• Tests in Auckland (last 24 hours): 5,322
• Tests rolling average (last 7 days): 17,134
• Testing centres in Auckland: 22

Wastewater

• Wastewater detections: No unexpected detections in past 24 hours. COVID-19 was detected in a sample collected from Rotorua on 2 September. This result is not unexpected as there is a known case staying at a Rotorua MIQ facility in the catchment area.

COVID-19 vaccine update

• Vaccines administered to date (total): 3,772,754; 1st doses: 2,482,124; 2nd doses: 1,290,630
• Vaccines administered yesterday (total): 86,544; 1st doses: 60,869; 2nd doses: 25,675
• Māori: 1st doses: 227,878: 2nd doses: 114,920
• Pacific Peoples: 1st doses:145,885; 2nd doses: 78,149

NZ COVID-19 tracer

• Registered users (total): 3,144,494
• Poster scans (total): 337,801,638
• Manual diary entries (total): 15,310,208
• Poster scans in 24 hours to midday yesterday: 1,172,719.

There may be some delays in providing data in some instances. On these occasions we will use data from the day before and clearly note this.

*Testing: Of the 22 community testing centres available for testing across Auckland today, six are regular community testing centres, 15 are pop-up testing centres and one is a restricted access testing centre. Restricted access testing centres are by invitation-only for high-risk groups and to prioritise essential health care workers.

To speed up the process at testing centres it would be helpful that if you know your NHI number you could bring it with you. You can find your NHI number on a hospital letter or prescription. Or call 0800 855 066 to find out yours.

Dr Bloomfield thanked everyone who has been tested already and urged Aucklanders, and people throughout New Zealand, to get tested if indicated.

"In particular, we need to maintain high levels of testing across Tamaki Makaurau to give us confidence that we have the outbreak under control. And for anyone, anywhere in the country, if you are a contact, have visited a location of interest at the specific dates and times or have cold and flu symptoms, please get tested."

For up-to-date information on testing locations in Auckland, visit www.arphs.health.nz/covid19test. For up-to-date info on all testing locations, visit www.healthpoint.co.nz/covid-19/