The normally busy Wellington waterfont, on day six of the alert level 4 lockdown. Photo / Mark Mitchell
The normally busy Wellington waterfont, on day six of the alert level 4 lockdown. Photo / Mark Mitchell
No new cases of Covid-19 were recorded in the capital today as Wellingtonians await the decision on a possible alert level shift.
Wellington's total case number remains at 14, and it is the first time since last week there have been no new cases to report in the capital.
Because of the impending Government announcement on a possible alert level shift, there was no 1pm briefing today and the cases were revealed on the Ministry of Health website.
Cabinet is meeting this afternoon to discuss a possible alert level shift outside Auckland, and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is expected to announce the decision at 3pm.
Auckland will remain in alert level 4 until at least midnight on Tuesday August 31.
It's been a week since the first community cases were detected in Wellington, but so far the outbreak has not ballooned to the extent seen in Auckland.
Yesterday almost 3,000 tests were processed in Wellington, with seven community testing centres operating across the region, and 32 GPs providing testing today.
There have been no new locations of interest added in the region since the weekend.
Teams at work administrating vaccine at the Ora Toa Covid-19 drive through vaccination clinic. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Epidemiologist Michael Baker said this morning it was reasonable Wellington could move down alert levels today, along with the rest of the country outside Auckland.
While there remained some risk given the 14 cases in Wellington, the fact they were all contained in their bubbles and there had been no spread was reassuring, Baker said.
"One option could be for Wellington and/or the North Island to hold on a bit longer, and then effectively split the country into three zones with Auckland," he said.
University of Otago Wellington Public health specialist Lesley Gray said she did not expect an alert level change for Wellington until at least next Tuesday.
"I would expect Wellington would stay on the same pathway as Auckland until at least next Tuesday, which would be level 4," she said.
"I think it would be a wise decision given what we know about Delta and its spreadability, and the reality that some people might test negative in the early days and then test positive later on."
It was reassuring all Wellington cases had been connected to the Auckland cluster, but this did not negate the possibility of further unrelated cases, she said.
"There is the potential, even at this stage, of someone who is not associated with those particular groups to produce a random positive," she said.
"We just need to get to the two-week mark to be sure."
Hundreds lined up in their cars to be vaccinated at a drive-through clinic in Porirua. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Yesterday, Pacific families turned up by the carload to be vaccinated at a drive-through clinic in Porirua.
Figures provided by the DHB showed 469 doses were administered, 329 of which went to Pacific people and 89 to Māori.
An additional 714 vaccinations were delivered at the Ora Toa Community centre nearby.
The clinic had been open from 10am to 2pm, but Capital and Coast and Hutt Valley DHBs Pacific Health director Junior Ulu said there had been cars waiting since 8am.
Thank you to all of the incredible teams who helped to organise and run the drive-through vaccination clinic today. 🎉 👏
Also a huge thank you to everyone who turned up and got vaccinated—thank you for helping to protect our community. https://t.co/OZYnmM4vse
— Te Whatu Ora Capital, Coast and Hutt Valley (@TeWhatuOraCCHV) August 26, 2021
As at Monday, nearly a quarter of a million vaccines had been administered in the Wellington region; 73,254 Wellingtonians are now fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
This equates to a little over 15 per cent of the populations of Capital & Coast, and Hutt Valley DHBs.
Meanwhile accommodation fees will be waived for students at Victoria University of Wellington from Monday.
However, it is not retrospective and will not apply to the first 11 days of lockdown.
A university spokesperson said there was only 30 per cent occupancy in the student halls at the moment, as the lockdown had come during the mid-trimester break.
The remaining 70 per cent of students were at home with their families.
"For students who are prevented from returning to their hall due to travel restrictions arising from all or part of the country being in alert level 4, 100 per cent of the accommodation fee will be waived from Monday 30 August until students return to their hall or the alert level drops to the point where students are able to return to their hall (whichever is earlier)," a statement from the university said.
Earlier this week the university confirmed a staff member had tested positive, but as they had been in isolation throughout their infectious period, the university campus was not affected.
