Covid 19 coronavirus Delta outbreak: Cases in Wellington, North Shore Hospital patient infected, contacts to balloon into thousands

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* Your guide to surviving that long wait for a Covid test
* Everything we know so far about the Wellington cases

Thirty-one Covid cases have now emerged in the community - including three in Wellington - and level 4 lockdown is set to extend until at least early next week, the Herald understands.

In Auckland, thousands of secondary school pupils, their families and staff are now under isolation orders after more Covid cases among teenagers emerged overnight.

Three cases have emerged in the Capital - all of whom are people who travelled to a location of interest in Auckland. The Herald understands at least two of the three confirmed cases live in Miramar.

The Capital and Coast District Health Board has referred any questions about the potential Wellington cases to the Ministry of Health, which provided a short update on the case numbers at 1pm.

The news of the Wellington cases comes after a new case was confirmed in Auckland this morning - a man who had been receiving hospital care at North Shore Hospital earlier in the week.

Queues building at Wellington city testing station on the back of news of confirmed Covid-19 cases. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Thirty people had direct contact with the patient that was infected with Covid-19 at North Shore Hospital.

They were among approximately 120 staff at the hospital who were rostered on and likely in the affected areas at the same time as the patient.

The 30 staff had since been stood down and extra staff were now being sourced from outside the region to help manage demand.

Testing is being set up at the hospital for affected staff.

As for patients, there were approximately 107 in the affected areas at the same time as the positive patient.

Of these, 29 remain admitted as inpatients and were being isolated and tested for Covid-19.

Seventy-eight have been discharged and self-isolating at home. Public health officials were keeping in touch with them.

Patients needing emergency care were now being diverted from North Shore Hospital to other emergency departments across metro Auckland for the time being.

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