PM Jacinda Ardern met with Cabinet in August to discuss the first steps for a travel bubble with the Cook Islands. Video / Mark Mitchell
There are no new Covid-19 cases today, the Ministry of Health says.
Yesterday marked 100 days without community transmission, a milestone that many other countries around the world are envious of.
There remain 21 active cases of coronavirus nationally, all in managed isolation facilities, while the number of New Zealand's confirmed cases remains at 1219. Two people have recovered in the last 24 hours.
Yesterday our laboratories processed 2125 tests, bringing the total number of tests completed to date to 496,606. There were 1134 swabs taken in managed isolation and quarantine facilities yesterday.
The Ministry said the number of tests yesterday was encouraging for a Sunday.
"We've now passed 100 days without community transmission, but testing remains one of the best ways to ensure there's no undetected community transmission in New Zealand. We need everyone to play their part in that.
"While Covid-19 continues around the world, New Zealand cannot be complacent.
"Our response to Covid-19 works on the basis that we should be prepared for a case of community transmission, and that that could happen at any time."
The Ministry said we had prepared "for this eventuality" by scaling up our capacity in testing and contact tracing.
"Every New Zealander needs to be prepared for the virus to re-emerge."
The Ministry was continuing to recommend households add masks to their earthquake emergency kits.
"We know there has been concern around supply issues, but we urge people to take the same approach as shopping for groceries during Alert Level 4 – shop normally and there will sufficient masks for everyone."
NZ Covid Tracer app
Tracing contacts of cases of Covid-19 as quickly as possible would help stop the virus from spreading in our communities.
"We can't afford for people to wait until there is a case of community transmission to start using the app – we need to quickly be able to isolate any contacts of a future case in our community before the virus spreads out of control.
"That means now is the time to download and start using the NZ COVID Tracer app, if you haven't already downloaded it."
NZ Covid Tracer has now recorded more than 646,400 registered users.
There have been 86,927 posters created, and 27,968 poster scans. There have been 16,151 manual entries recorded in the app.
'Significant milestone'
Director General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield thanked every person who had been tested for Covid-19, saying Sunday marked a "significant milestone".
"However, as we all know, we can't afford to be complacent," he said in a statement yesterday.
"We have seen overseas how quickly the virus can re-emerge and spread in places where it was previously under control, and we need to be prepared to quickly stamp out any future cases in New Zealand. Every person in the team of five million has a role to play in this."
However National's deputy leader Gerry Brownlee has questioned the Government's messaging around the risk of community transmission, given it has been so long since our last community outbreak.
Speaking yesterday on Newstalk ZB, Brownlee said the Government's warning of an imminent second wave of Covid-19 in New Zealand was "puzzling".
"People have made a big effort on this and they expect to get all the relative freedom," he said.
"None of us are complacent about it, I believe, it is something that is going to be with the world from this point on."
