There were 74 Covid cases in the community today, as the Government revealed a tentative plan for primary school children to return to classes on November 15. Video / NZ Herald / Getty
There are 74 Covid cases in the community today, as the Government reveals a tentative plan for primary schoolchildren to return to classes on November 15.
Today's cases include 68 in Auckland and six in Waikato, all in Hamilton and all linked to previous cases.
Two close contacts of person who travelled to Blenheim from Waikato have returned negative results, two others are awaiting results.
Waikato alert level eases from midnight
From 11.59pm tonight restrictions will ease "a little" for Waikato, Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins told today's 1pm briefing.
Northland remains at alert level 2, but people in the region should remain "vigilant" and monitor locations of interest and for symptoms, Hipkins said.
The South Island remains in alert level 2.
Hipkins said he is pleased to hear positive reports from those who have returned to school this week, who are preparing for NCEA exams.
November 15 tentative date for school return
Hipkins said he asked education officials to work with representatives from primary schools over the coming week, on the basis of an indicative start date of November 15 for primary schools opening, subject to "events closer to the time". This relates to Years 1-8.
It would involve groups of students attending on different days to keep numbers smaller, and outdoor lessons, Hipkins said.
Also being considered was whether early learning centres could extend numbers from 10 to 20 on November 15.
The Government was not at the point where it was comfortable for opening primary schools yet. The November 15 date was not "locked in stone", but he said it might be a realistic timeframe for having more primary school students back at school.
Hipkins said secondary schools would be "pretty full" if they brought back Year 9 and 10 students, but he would like to see them back at school this year if possible.
There was a lot of parental anxiety about returning students and he could reassure them the Government was considering things "thoroughly".
Hipkins said we are more likely to see cases emerging outside of Auckland.
He said the best thing New Zealanders can do is to get vaccinated to enjoy greater freedoms over summer.
Hipkins said "stamping the virus out" remained the best course of action for places outside of Auckland until vaccination rates improved.
Hipkins said cases in Waikato were in a more difficult group of cases to contact-trace, but would not share any more details on what that meant.
Director general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said there were no more cases in Northland, and all close contacts of cases are isolating and none have returned a positive test.
Some cases are isolating in a refined area in the Far North and local health providers are in regular contact with them, Bloomfield said.
Hipkins said as soon as advice is received that booster shots are required, the Government is "ready to go" with the rollout.
Bloomfield said that all going well officials were planning to roll out booster shots to those who were first to receive their vaccine, "this side of Christmas".
Bloomfield said health officials were increasing capacity for home isolation and lots of people could do so safely. He said space is still available in quarantine facilities in Auckland if people need it.
Bloomfield said hospitalisation numbers are "very manageable" and even dropped over the weekend. Alert level 3 settings are keeping those rates low, he said.
Around half of the daily cases were Māori, about 30 per cent are NZ European and 20 per cent Pasifika and other ethnic groups.
US approves Pfizer vaccine for kids aged 5-11
Bloomfield said health officials were expecting information from Pfizer in first two weeks of November about vaccines for children aged 5-11, and then advice would be given to ministers. US health officials today cleared the vaccine for children.
Pfizer is making an application for a child version of its vaccine, and places in the US have it ready to go should it be approved for use, Bloomfield said. This will affect when the vaccine can roll out here.
Medsafe was already looking at public data from Pfizer about trials it has carried out on children, but it has not received the formal application.
Because it is a new and younger age group being considered for the vaccine, Medsafe will do a thorough process of assessing risks and benefits, and Medsafe may refer it to a an independent advisory group for review, Bloomfield said.
Ministers are meeting this afternoon to discuss changes to the length of MIQ stays, which will be announced tomorrow, Hipkins said.
A total of 3 million Kiwis are now fully vaccinated against Covid, the Ministry of Health said in today's update.
There are four new border cases, three of which are historical.
The first case flew directly from the United States on October 21 and is isolating in Christchurch.
The three historical cases flew via Singapore and tested positive on day 6. They are also in Christchurch.
The other two also flew from the United States on October 21 and tested positive on arrival. The two are in Auckland.
There were 12,639 vaccines issued in Auckland yesterday.
There have been no new wastewater detections.
Yesterday there were 79 community cases, including four in Waikato - all of which were expected and linked.
Six cases in Waikato remain unlinked, and two bakeries were added as locations of interest in Tokoroa. They were visited by the case who spent the night in Tokoroa before flying to Blenheim from Rotorua Airport.
That is likely to be extended unless public health officials believe they have a ring around all of the cases, both detected and undetected.
Much of that will depend on how likely they think the unlinked cases will be resolved, and whether they believe they already know all of the close contacts.
Vaccination coverage is also a factor. The first dose coverage of eligible people living in the Waikato DHB region is 85 per cent, while the second dose coverage is 68 per cent.
Hipkins has previously cautioned about sending Year 1 to 10 students in Auckland back to school, given that most of them cannot be vaccinated because they are under 12.
That has called into question whether they will return to the classroom at all this year.
Developmental paediatrician Dr Jin Russell has outlined a number of measures that can reduce the risk of school spread.
The greatest risk of transmission is from adult to child, rather than child to child.
This risk will be reduced with the Government's mandate for education workers to be fully vaccinated, though they have until November 15 to get a first dose, and until January 1 to get a second dose.
Russell has also stressed the importance of ventilation and filtration in classrooms, noting the use of 51,000 air filters in Victoria.
Hipkins has previously said it's not viable to install air filters in 35,000 classrooms in New Zealand because it would cost millions of dollars. In some circumstances, open doors and windows would achieve the same results.
He has previously said he expected more face mask use in educational settings, at least in the short term.
Parts of Waikato have been in alert level 3 for just over three weeks, after cases filtered out of Auckland and infected people in Hamilton, Raglan and Te Awamutu.
