The South Island moved into Level 3. Photo / George Heard
The South Island moved into Level 3. Photo / George Heard
The South Island is today back at Covid-19 alert level 3, accompanied by a promise from Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to ''very genuinely reassess'' next Monday whether it can drop back to Level 2.
The signs looked promising yesterday, as all 49 new community transmission cases of Covid-19 were once more in Auckland, and the number of close contacts of that cluster now isolating in the Southern District Heath Board region dropped to single figures from a high of about 140 late last week.
''Most have now completed their 14-day isolation period,'' SDHB medical officer of health Dr Michael Butchard said.
Cars lining up at McDonalds in Christchurch with the move to level 3. Photo / George Heard
''We are pleased with this expected continued decline in numbers.''
Clinicians throughout Otago and Southland carried out 217 tests yesterday.
Ardern, when asked if the Government had already decided the South Island would spend more than the already announced week at level 3, denied that was the case.
''It is certainly not the case that we have predetermined that it has to be three weeks,'' she said.
''We will very genuinely reassess that risk after seven days and make a decision.
''We haven't had a case in the South Island for a long time and we want to keep it that way.
''If we can keep them there with fewer restrictions then we will.''
Director general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said officials had spent yesterday determining what new restrictions would be in place for level 2, and would continue that work today.
''We are looking at those settings and how they may need to be strengthened, including mask use, and they will look at mask use by children and young people as part of that.
The South Island has moved to Level 3 on Tuesday night. Photo / George Heard
''Our approach to date has been that in school settings it is hard, particularly for children under the age of 12, it is harder to be assured that they are able to use the mask safely, and we will have another look at that and see what that advice says so it can inform Cabinet about future alert level 2 settings.''
There are now 597 community cases in Auckland and 15 in Wellington.
One Wellingtonian is in hospital, as are 32 Aucklanders.
Eight cases were in intensive care yesterday.
''We have an 18-year-old in hospital right now,'' Ardern said.
''I don't think anyone can expect that they are safe from this virus. We all have a job to do.''
The two-day student vaccination clinic at the Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin wound up yesterday, which helped to push total injection numbers in the south above 267,000.
That meant 60 per cent of southerners had received at least one dose of vaccine and almost 30 per cent were fully vaccinated, SDHB vaccine rollout incident controller Hamish Brown said.
Ardern said the Government was working on securing more supplies of the vaccine to meet the demand.
''We are not going to run out but we may find ourselves in a position where we have to come back to our plan which will just mean slightly lower levels, but that should only apply for a couple of weeks because we have so many [doses] coming in in October,'' she said.
