November 20 2021
There were 172 new cases of Covid-19 in the community today - and the first Wellington case has been confirmed, an essential worker from Auckland.
New potential exposure sites across New Zealand have been listed this afternoon including a series of South Island petrol stations, a South Auckland thrift shop and a Four Square store in Waipū.
In the latest tranche of locations listed by the Ministry of Health, nine new sites including supermarkets in Northland and two large chain retailers in Waikato have been added to the 107 locations of interest where people with Covid have visited.
People are advised to watch for signs of symptoms for the coming 10 days and get tested if they start to fall ill.
Three Z petrol stations in Amberley, Huntly and Waltham are included along with Gas Waikari.
Further north The Warehouse in Te Awamutu was visited by an infected shopper on Tuesday while a shopping trip to the Kmart in Te Rapa took place on Monday.
The ministry has also alerted a shopping trip to the Four Square store in Waipū late Tuesday afternoon and Countdown Dargaville, a few hours earlier.
In Auckland the Salvation Army Family Store in Manukau was visited briefly on Tuesday afternoon by an infected person.
The most recent visit to a business took place just two days ago at Z Huntly. The infected person was at the service station for more than an hour over lunchtime that day.
New locations at 2pm
• Z Brougham St, Christchurch. Monday November 15, 11.05am-12.05pm • Countdown Dargaville. Tuesday, November 16, 12.31pm-1.30pm • Salvation Army Family Store Manukau. Tuesday, November 16, 1.09pm-1.19pm • The Warehouse Te Awamutu. Tuesday, November 16,1.50pm-2.35pm • Four Square Waipu. Tuesday, November 16, 4.30pm-5.45pm • Gas Waikari Fuel 24/7 Waikari. Tuesday, November 16, 8pm- 9pm • Z Amberley. Tuesday, November 16, 8.20pm-9.20pm • Z Huntly. Thursday, November 18, 12.30pm-1.40pm
Health teams earlier flagged a potential South Island exposure to Covid after announcing a Christchurch dairy is among the latest location of interest.
• Caltex Welcome Bay. Thursday, November 18, 4pm-5.30pm
New times
• Pak'nSave Whitiora. Wednesday, November 17, 9.30am -11.30am
• Countdown Otorohanga. Wednesday, November 17, 10.07am-11.45am
• Christchurch Airport. Saturday, November 13, 2.30pm-3.15pm
It follows on from good news earlier this week as the Auckland District Health Board reached the 90 per cent full vaccination target for its residents.
The DHB, which has partially vaccinated 95 per cent of its people, yesterday hit the double vax milestone, which has been lauded as the point at which New Zealand can significantly relax its public health measures.
Three regions in New Zealand have now surpassed 90 per cent double-vaccinated against Covid-19.
The Selwyn District in Canterbury (90.2 per cent) and Wellington (90 per cent) both marked the achievement yesterday, Ministry of Health data shows.
Queenstown-Lakes reached 90 per cent on Wednesday, winning the Herald Top Towns initiative.
In nine days, Cabinet will likely confirm Auckland's move to the new Covid-19 protection framework - the traffic light system - in which high vaccination levels enable further social freedoms.
On December 15, fully vaccinated Aucklanders - or those who test negative for Covid-19 72 hours before travel - will be able to leave the city to spend Christmas with loved ones.
