The lack of a Covid-19 update today comes as two cases of community exposure to the highly infectious Omicron variant occurred in Auckland this week.
Last night, the MOH also confirmed a resident at Everil Orr rest home in Mount Albert, Auckland, tested positive for Covid-19.
"The facility, which is run by Oceania Health, is being supported by Public Health. Testing is being undertaken with residents and staff as part of the outbreak management plan," the MOH said.
A statement from Oceania last night assured: "There isn't a wider outbreak at the care centre currently, but we are working with the PHU and ADHB, and as a precaution we have closed our care centre to visitors until further notice. We are in close communication with our residents and their families regarding the situation."
Yesterday, there were 49 new cases of Covid-19 in the community - none of which were the Omicron variant.
However, 10 Omicron cases were identified in MIQ yesterday, taking the total number of border cases of the variant to 88.
There were 46 people in hospital with Covid-19, including eight in ICU.
The two cases of Omicron community exposure in Auckland this week - a British DJ and an Air NZ crew member - were both also declared yesterday as having "low risk" of further transmission by the Ministry of Health.
Details of the exact movements of a British DJ infected with Omicron who spent two days in the Auckland community going to bars and restaurants and Waiheke Island are yet to be fully clarified.
"Regarding the Omicron border case announced on Wednesday, microbiologists have advised that the risk of transmission from this case is low," the MOH said yesterday.
Contact tracing has now identified 88 close contacts of the case. Eighty of these contacts have been reached, all are isolating and have been tested. The MOH said their contact tracers are "working urgently" to contact the remaining eight close contacts.
Six close contacts who attended the Hidden Lakes festival have all tested negative for Covid-19 as well. "This means there was no public health risk associated with this event," the ministry said.
DJ Dimension, real name Robert Etheridge, had travelled to New Zealand on December 16 to perform at the Rhythm & Alps festival.
The British DJ spent seven days in MIQ, before then transferring to an approved beachside location for MIQ.
Etheridge ended his stint and spent two days in the community – including going to Auckland bars and restaurants and Waiheke Island – before he got the results of his day-nine Covid test; the one which would come back as positive.
Anyone who attended the Hidden Lakes Festival - where a close contact of the DJ performed - and is concerned should ring Healthline, the ministry said.
On Thursday, a second case of the Omicron Covid-19 strain in the community was detected after an Air New Zealand crew member tested positive for the more infectious variant on December 27.
Eight close contacts of that crew member are now isolating after the person arrived in Auckland from Sydney on Christmas Eve.
All eight close contacts of the Air New Zealand flight crew member have returned negative tests.
"There are no locations of interest associated with this case and therefore the risk to the public has been determined to be low", the MOH said yesterday.
Move to orange traffic light alert level
Last night, New Year's Eve celebrations were muted around the country. Auckland's normally bustling city centre was quiet as Covid restrictions forced the cancellation of the popular fireworks spectacle off the Sky Tower. Instead, a light show from the bridge illuminated the city.
However, larger crowds were at least allowed to gather in Auckland for the first time since August after moving from red to the orange setting of the Covid-19 framework at midnight on Thursday.
Taupō, Rotorua lakes districts, Kawerau, Whakatāne, Ōpōtiki, Gisborne, Wairoa, Rangitīkei, Whanganui and Ruapehu districts also moved to orange at midnight on Thursday, leaving just Northland in red.
This will be the final traffic light shift this year before Cabinet reviews the settings in mid-January.
In the orange setting, venues such as bars, restaurants and cafes which enforce vaccine pass requirements can lift previous limits on crowd sizes, and do not need to enforce seating.
Epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker said New Zealand's current Covid settings are working well for the Delta variant - but will need to be adapted if Omicron begins to spread in New Zealand.
"At the moment our settings are not tuned to Omicron at all and we will have to do a rapid review of the pandemic policy settings before Omicron spreads widely in New Zealand," Baker said.
"Basically, if Omicron is in the community we could have a real problem because it will spread really rapidly. And the main reason it spreads really rapidly is this variant seems to be both inherently more infectious - it's probably due to producing larger viral load in parts of the airways - and secondly it evades some of the immunity, particularly the antibody immunity generated by the Pfizer vaccine.
"So it would spread really rapidly if was established in Auckland from any source. It is going to spread widely and it's going to be very hard to contain."
However, Baker said, "It's still the big three measures to stop Omicron like other strains to limit spread of the virus.
"Get vaccinated and boosters, coming forward if you have symptoms, and taking measures to stop spread indoors including wearing masks and proper ventilation. The same three principles apply," he said.
