New Zealand recorded another set of daily case numbers under 100 today as health officials praise the county’s downward trend as 'hugely encouraging.'
Video / Jed Bradley / Michael Craig / Alex Burton / Dean Purcell
Forty-six people have now died of Covid-19 in New Zealand, with the death toll rising after two people died of the virus in hospital yesterday.Ninety-five new cases were also announced yesterday, 75 in Auckland, where regional border controls in place since the Delta outbreak was first detected in August will be removed on Wednesday.
Covid-19 has already spread to several regions, including in the South Island, where three new cases - two in Christchurch, including one first made public on Thursday, and one in Nelson Tasman - were announced.
Meanwhile, Waikato had 11 new cases, Bay of Plenty five and Lakes [Rotorua/Taupo and surrounds] one.
A person has also tested positive in Taranaki but would be added to today's case numbers. A case previously under investigation in the Southern region has been classified as historical.
Of the two deaths, one person died at Middlemore Hospital overnight, the Ministry of Health said yesterday.
Their family had asked for no information about the person be given to the public.
The second person who died overnight yesterday had been admitted to Auckland City Hospital because of their Covid infection. The case has been referred to the coroner.
Meanwhile, 56 people are in hospital, four of whom are in intensive care.
The end is nigh for the regional borders around Auckland - they end on Wednesday this week. File photo / Michael Craig
All but three of those sick are in Auckland hospitals. There is one person each in Waikato, Tauranga and Nelson-Marlborough hospitals.
Thirty of those hospitalised are either unvaccinated or ineligible to be vaccinated, while 12 are partially vaccinated.
Nine are fully immunised, which meant they received their second dose at least seven days before their infection was detected. The vaccination status of two patients wasn't known.
The average age of those in hospital was 51.
Total case numbers under 100 was a "hugely encouraging" number, director-general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said today.
Daily inflections were more than double that before the outbreak peaked last month, with infection rates falling as more Kiwis get the protection of the vaccine.
As of yesterday, 89 per cent of Kiwis were fully vaccinated, with 94 per cent having had at least one dose of the vaccine.
Just under 22,000 people were vaccinated on Friday, including 3374 receiving their first dose.
Five district health board areas, mostly in cities, have already passed 90 per cent double-dosed, while two others are at 89 per cent - Hutt Valley need just 894 more jabs to reach the milestone and Counties Manukau 4637.
Northland, at 80.2 per cent, fully vaccinated needs to vaccinate 15,747 more people to reach 90 per cent, while Tairāwhiti, on 80.8 per cent double-dosed, has 3874 to go.
Both have the lowest double-dose vaccination rates, along with Whanganui at 82.4 per cent and Lakes at 83.1 per cent.
Among eligible Māori, only 74 per cent are fully vaccinated, which has raised concerns in some parts of the country.
Ōpōtiki District Council yesterday backed calls from iwi leaders to try to block Aucklanders from travelling to the district when the city's boundary relaxes on Wednesday.
To leave Auckland, travellers must be either fully vaccinated, or have proof of a negative Covid-19 test within 72 hours of arriving at the boundary.
"We are remote, most people are more than three hours from the nearest hospital, and we have a lot of vulnerable and elderly in our communities," Ōpōtiki councillor Louis Rapihana said.
A person from Ōpōtiki tested positive for Covid, it was announced on Thursday.
They were outside the region when they received their results and returned to Ōpōtiki to complete required isolation with public health support.
Meanwhile, an investigation into seven recent incidents of people absconding from MIQ hasn't found any single reason behind the events, which involved a total of nine people - all community cases - between October 4 and November 6, Joint Head of MIQ, Brigadier Rose King said.
However, a report of the findings recommended several improvements, all of which were either complete or underway, King said.
This included reconsidering the fencing standard at facilities accommodating community quarantine cases, de-escalation training for staff and a review of the process for transfers and short-term facility departures.
"MIQ has served New Zealand well, helping to bring almost 200,000 people home safely and caring for over 3,500 community cases", King said.
"Of that large number, we have seen a total of 19 absconder events involving 25 people."
Community cases were in different circumstances than returnees as they hadn't had time to mentally and physically prepare for MIQ, which also was not a prison and staff weren't prison guards, she said.
"This can be enormously stressful and – in some people – this can manifest in poor behaviour. Some are extremely reluctant to enter a facility and it is hard to keep people in if they are determined to leave."
