The Pukekohe Indian Community Centre is the second Auckland wedding to be hit by an Omicron exposure, sparking fresh fears of a long list of close contacts that will require testing and isolation. Video / Jed Bradley
Two Auckland weddings are now the focus of the Omicron community outbreak as new exposure sites across the city emerge.
A guest who was at the Pukekohe Indian Community Centre wedding said there were up to five hundred people at the evening reception.
"I can't say the exact number, but around I'd say four to five hundred people," said the family friend of the wedding party.
He did not wish to be named but is currently isolating at home and feeling well.
"Anybody can get Covid, the important thing is to tell the authorities the full and correct information to look after the community," the guest told the Herald.
He said he received a call from health authorities and spent three hours talking with officers on the phone yesterday.
The Pukekohe Indian Community Centre is the second Auckland wedding to be hit by an Omicron exposure, sparking fresh fears of a long list of close contacts that will require testing and isolation.
Auckland Regional Public Health Service has also said it believed a large number of people attended the event.
Anyone who was there on Sunday January 16, 6.45-10.45pm is asked to self-isolate, test immediately and on day 5 after potential exposure.
A wedding reception at Totara Event Centre on January 15 was visited by an Omicron case. Photo / Jed Bradley
The Herald understands the Pukekohe wedding is separate from the wedding at Totara Event Centre in New Lynn on Saturday January 15.
A family of nine from Motueka who attended the New Lynn wedding were some of the first positive Omicron cases in this outbreak.
The Ministry of Health had thanked the family for coming forward and getting tested when they became symptomatic.
"Their co-operation has been instrumental in identifying locations of interests, additional contacts, and cases, all of which helps slow the spread of Omicron in our communities," said the Ministry in its 1pm statement today.
"At this stage, it is believed the family became infected while in Auckland, not in the Nelson/Tasman region."
Sikh community representative Daljit Singh says there were several weddings taking place that weekend, with Auckland in the orange setting after coming out of a long lockdown that had built up a wedding backlog.
The number of cases and contacts is expected to grow, health authorities said in a statement, given the highly transmissible nature of Omicron and as officials learned more from case interviews.
There are 10 new Omicron cases today - part of 25 Covid-19 cases reported in the community by the Ministry of Health.
The new cases bring the total number of Omicron infections in the cluster to 29.
