MINISTRY OF HEALTH UPDATE
October 17, 2021
There are 51 new community cases today; 47 are in Auckland and four are in the Waikato. As at 9am today, 28 of these cases are linked, of whom 18 are household contacts, and 23 remain unlinked with investigations continuing to help determine their connection to the current outbreak.
Super Saturday
Super Saturday provided a huge boost to New Zealand’s response to Covid-19, with a record-breaking 130,002 people putting their arms out for vaccinations yesterday, Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said.
“People across the motu embraced Super Saturday like their communities’ lives depended on it. It was inspiring to witness as we know the Covid-19 vaccine is key to our efforts to control the virus.
“Auckland did incredibly well with its biggest ever vaccination day and I congratulate and thank everyone there who stepped forward to protect themselves, their whānau and their community – 41,081 people were vaccinated there yesterday, including 9039 first doses and 32,042 second doses.
“They’ve hit 89 per cent of their eligible population who have had their first dose and are tantalisingly close to reaching 90 per cent. I continue to urge everyone in Auckland who hasn’t received their first vaccination to get vaccinated as soon as possible. And remember, we’re not stopping at 90% – the higher, the better for everyone.”
At the start of yesterday, we needed 29,399 more people in Auckland to get their first dose to reach 90 per cent so we’re only 20,360 short. Over the past week, Auckland averaged about 4000 first doses daily so we’re on track to reach that milestone this week.
A more detailed breakdown of the vaccination data by District Health Board will be released shortly.
| Cases | |
| Number of new community cases | 51 |
| Number of new cases identified at the border | Two |
| Location of new community cases | Auckland (47) Waikato (4) |
| Location of community cases (total)* | Auckland 1886 (1303 of whom have recovered); Waikato 42 (2 of whom have recovered); Wellington 17 (all of whom have recovered) |
| Number of community cases (total) | 1,945 (in current community outbreak) |
| Cases infectious in the community | 19 of yesterday’s 41 cases have exposure events |
| Cases in isolation throughout the period they were infectious | 22 of yesterday’s 41 cases |
| Cases epidemiologically linked | 28 of today’s 51 cases |
| Cases to be epidemiologically linked | 23 of today’s 51 cases |
| Cases epidemiologically linked (total) | 1795 (in the current cluster) (127 unlinked from the past 14 days) |
| Cases in hospital | 29 (total): North Shore (4); Middlemore (14); Auckland (11) |
| Cases in ICU or HDU | Five |
| Confirmed cases (total) | 4632 since pandemic began |
| Historical cases, since 1 Jan 2021 (total) | 171 out of 2817 since 1 Jan 2021 |
| Contacts | |
| Number of active contacts being managed (total): | 1973 |
| Percentage who have received an outbound call from contact tracers (to confirm testing and isolation requirements) | 84% |
| Percentage with at least one test result | 75% |
| Locations of interest | |
| Locations of interest (total) | 447 (as at 10am 17 October) |
| Tests | |
| Number of tests (total) | 3,752,266 |
| Number of tests total (last 24 hours) | 26,667 |
| Tests processed in Auckland (last 24 hours) | 8895 |
| Tests rolling average (last 7 days) | 23,575 |
| Testing centres in Auckland | 17 |
| Wastewater | |
| Wastewater detections** | See below |
| Covid-19 vaccine update | |
| Vaccines administered to date (total) | 6,314,182; 1st doses: 3,565,822 (85%); 2nd doses: 2,748,360 (65%) |
| Vaccines administered yesterday (total) | 130,002; 1st doses: 39,025; 2nd doses: 90,977 |
| Māori | 1st doses: 375,387 (66%); 2nd doses: 252,419 (44%) |
| Pacific Peoples | 1st doses: 229,483 (80%); 2nd doses: 168,177 (59%) |
| Vaccines administered to Auckland residents to date (total) | 2,282,830: 1st doses: 1,269,236 (89%); 2nd doses: 1,013,594 (71%) |
| Vaccines administered to Auckland residents yesterday (total) | 41,081: 1st doses: 9,039, 2nd doses: 32,042 |
| NZ Covid Tracer | |
| Registered users (total) | 3,303,543 |
| Poster scans (total) | 436,073,883 |
| Manual diary entries (total) | 18,429,641 |
| Poster scans in 24 hours to midday yesterday | 2,553,481 |
*One previously reported case has been reclassified as ‘not a case’.
New cases identified at the border
| Arrival date | From | Via | Positive test day/reason | Managed isolation/quarantine location |
| 13 October | Awaiting full travel history | Qatar/Australia | Day 3 / routine | Auckland |
| 11 October | USA | Direct | Day 3 / routine | Auckland |
Waikato update
Four new cases were confirmed in the Waikato overnight. Two cases (one in Hamilton and one in Raglan) were known contacts of existing cases, including one individual who was already in managed isolation.
Investigations are underway to determine how the other two cases are connected to the current outbreak. One lives in Hamilton and the other has an address in Kihikihi. It is possible that the Kihikihi case is the source of the wastewater detections in Te Awamutu, however this has not yet been confirmed.
Waikato DHB is continuing to carry out regionwide testing and we are encouraging anyone with symptoms to get tested – particularly for residents of Raglan, Te Awamutu and Kihikihi. Testing will be available tomorrow in Kihikihi. The location of testing sites available today in the Waikato are below, and are also available on the Healthpoint website and the Waikato DHB website.
Pop-up testing site Te Awamutu
Te Awamutu Event Centre carpark, Gorst Avenue, Te Awamutu
Sunday 11-5pm
Pop-up testing site Hamilton
Te Kohao Health, 951 Wairere Drive, Hamilton East
7 days – 10am – 4pm
Claudelands Event Centre, Gate 3 Brooklyn Rd
Thursday 14 – Sunday 17 October 10am – 6pm
Pop-up testing site Raglan
Raglan Area School, Norrie Ave, Raglan
Thursday 14 – Sunday 17 October – 10am – 1pm
Super Saturday was a big success in the Waikato with 10,088 people getting out to be vaccinated. Of those people, 3,887 received their first dose and 6,201 their second dose. There were 6,080 swabs taken for testing around the region.
**Wastewater
Following two positive detections in wastewater samples in Wellsford, it can be confirmed that there is one household in the area with cases. Wellsford residents are urged to remain vigilant and get tested if they have any symptoms.
There is a pop-up community testing centre open today at Warkworth until 4pm – please call ahead to book your test. Covid-19 testing is also available at general practice and urgent care clinics. A pop-up testing centre will be operating in Kaiwaka from 10am to 5pm from tomorrow. For other testing locations, visit the Healthpoint website.
