This story originally appeared on RNZ as is republished with permission
There are nine new cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand today – eight confirmed cases and one probable case.
Watch the briefing here:
Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said one of the confirmed cases is an imported case that was picked up at the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel in Auckland.
The case is a woman in her 30s and it was picked up on day 12 of testing.
The other eight cases are in the community and all epidemiologically linked with the main cluster. Among them, one is linked via travel on a bus, one at a church and two in a workplace.
There are now 1332 confirmed cases, with 351 probable cases in total.
Nineteen of the active cases are imported.
Dr Bloomfield said there are 151 cases linked to the Auckland cluster that have moved into the Auckland quarantine facility.
There are 10 people in hospital today. Two of these people are in intensive care at Middlemore Hospital.
In the past seven days, almost 100,000 tests have been processed.
Over the weekend, there was a total of seven new cases in the community and two new cases in managed isolation.
The government is keeping a track on the number of cases, and whether or not they are linked to the cluster, to determine the appropriate alert levels.
The prime minister is expected to make a decision on that at 3pm.
Aucklanders have been divided on the matter, but the city’s mayor and businesses supported an ease of restrictions.
