A Covid-19 testing station at Kahukura. Photo / Andrew Warner
There are 145 new cases of Covid-19 in the community today including four in the Bay of Plenty region.
A person has also died of the virus.
Seventy-seven people are in hospital and eight of them are in intensive care.
There are four new cases in Bay of Plenty. All four have been linked to previously confirmed cases.
One case is based in Kawerau, one is in Tauranga and two are in Te Puke.
The person based in Kawerau is a close contact of a previously confirmed case, and has been in isolation for the past week.
Investigations are continuing and while public health staff don't expect a large number of locations of interest as a result, if and when they're identified, they will be added to the Ministry of Health's website. This is updated regularly.
Bay of Plenty DHB is opening a pop-up testing site from tomorrow at Waitaha Hauora/Nga Kakano Family Health Services at the Sikh Temple in Te Puke.
The Bay of Plenty DHB has also been working with local providers in Kawerau to provide more testing capacity for the town. Additional testing is available today until 6pm and again from 10 until 6 tomorrow at the Te Puna Ora o Mataatua, Ron Hardie Recreation Centre carpark in Kawerau.
Please check the DHB's website for further details.
Two of the three other cases are also close contacts of previously confirmed cases and have been in isolation.
Public health staff want to reiterate the message to Bay of Plenty locals to get tested if you're feeling unwell and get your first dose of the vaccine if you haven't already.
Details of testing stations in Bay of Plenty can be found on the Healthpoint website.
Saturday
• Warehouse Fraser Cove, Tauranga, on November 19 from 10.15am to 12pm. (
• Paengaroa Liquor Store on November 19 from 6.30pm to 7.40pm.
Friday:
• Pied Piper Ice Cream Truck at Memorial Park, Tauranga, on November 20 from 2.40pm to 3.40pm.
• Tauranga Hospital Emergency Department on November 20 from 8.42am to 11.59pm and on November 21 between midnight and 1.10am.
• Unichem Cherrywood Pharmacy Otumoetai on Monday November 22 from 4pm to 5.45pm.
Those who visited the hospital emergency department in those windows are being asked to self-isolate and get tested immediately, then again five days after the exposure. Further isolation and testing requirements will be provided by Public Health.
Saturday
• McDonalds Te Ngae on November 19 from 7am to 8.20am.
Friday:
• Mobil Te Ngae on November 19 between 6.32am and 8.02am.
• KFC Amohau St on Friday, November 19, from 8.22pm to 9.37pm.
• Goldstar Bakery on Old Taupo Rd on Monday, November 22, from 6.21am to 7.46am.
• Westpac ATM New World Westend Rotorua on Monday, November 22, between 7.24am and 8.39am.
There is also a new time announced for Pak'nSave Rotorua on Wednesday, November 24, from 4.45pm to 9pm.
People who have been at those locations should self-monitor for Covid-19 symptoms for 10 days after exposure. If symptoms develop, get a test and stay at home until you get a negative test result and until 24 hours after symptoms resolve.
Friday:
• Gull Landing Whakatāne on November 24 from 5.20am to 6.35am.
• Bakehouse Tāneatua on the same day from 5.45am to 7am.
• Whakatane Hospital Emergency Department on Sunday, November 21, from 2pm to 7.15pm
• Whakatane Acute Care Unit on Sunday, November 21, from 5pm to 11.59pm and Monday November 22 from 12am to 2pm.
There were 173 new cases of Covid-19 in the community yesterday including three in the Bay of Plenty region.
Two were in the Bay of Plenty DHB and one was in the Lakes DHB area.
One of the two cases in Bay of Plenty is in the Tauranga area, is in isolation and had tested positive after being a close contact of a positive case.
The second person, who normally lives in Waikato, tested positive in Tauranga and is being included in the area's Covid numbers. The person is being transferred to their home in Waikato.
The first case in the Eastern Bay of Plenty was announced on Wednesday. The case is in Waimana Valley, 26km southeast of Whakatāne.
'This decision has not been made lightly'.