There were 103 new cases of Covid-19 in the community on Thursday with 88 in Auckland, nine in Waikato, five in the Bay of Plenty and one in the Lakes district.
Video / Michael Craig / Alex Burton / Dean Purcell
There are 103 new cases of Covid-19 in the community today - 88 in Auckland, 9 in Waikato, 5 in the Bay of Plenty and one in the Lakes district.
Seventy people are in hospital, including five in ICU - all in Auckland and Waikato. Of those in hospital, 37 cases, or 61 per cent, are unvaccinated or not eligible for the vaccine.
Across Auckland, more than 3100 people are isolating at home, including 863 cases.
To date, 94 per cent of eligible people have had their first dose of the vaccine and 88 per cent are fully vaccinated.
Almost 23,000 vaccine doses were administered yesterday - including 675 third primary doses and 9,059 booster shots.
There have been more than four million downloads of My Vaccine Pass to date, and more than 71,000 downloads in the last 24 hours.
High-risk event
A popular make-up shop in downtown Auckland has been identified as a high-risk location of interest, with people who were there being told to self-isolate immediately.
Anyone who was at Sephora Queen St, 152 Queen St, last Thursday, December 2, is advised to self-isolate and get a Covid test immediately.
The store was exposed to a Covid infected person between 10.17am and 2.15pm that day.
Sephora on Queen St, downtown Auckland, has been identified as a high risk location of interest. Image / Google
Case details
A staff member at David Lange Care Home in Māngere East in Auckland has tested positive for Covid-19.
Auckland Regional Public Health Service and Counties Manukau DHB staff are supporting the residents and staff at the facility.
Testing is currently being undertaken with residents and staff.
All of today's five cases in the Bay of Plenty are in the Tauranga area, and all are linked to existing cases or cases being investigated.
Another case in Ōpōtiki, in the Eastern Bay of Plenty, is isolating at home. The case was tested outside of the region before returning home and is therefore not included in the region's case numbers today.
There is also a new case in Canterbury, which will be officially added to the case numbers tomorrow.
The new case in Rotorua is linked to a previously reported case. They are isolating in managed accommodation with public health oversight.
On a downward trend
The number of daily Covid community cases has seen a positive trend with case numbers recently dropping under the 100 mark for the first time in several weeks.
Epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker said it was a positive sign that increased vaccination rates among the population are working.
However, with the traffic light system only kicking off less than a week ago, we could still potentially see a jump in cases by the weekend or early next week due to the relaxed restrictions in Auckland in particular.
"The settings of alert level three was working well," he said.
"I think we would expect to see cases go up with the traffic light system because there is a lot more mixing going on."
Baker described "our biggest risk" as private gatherings and parties that included people who were not vaccinated.
Such parties could be particularly difficult to contain during the festive season.
Anti-vax GP issuing fake vaccination exemption certificated
Health officials authorities are now investigating after Canterbury GP Dr Jonie Girouard was snapped providing her patients with fake medical certificates to be used to get out of getting the Pfizer vaccine.
The health ministry is now investigating the claim, which was brought to light after a Newshub reporter went undercover. There are now signs that Police will be involved soon.
The NZ Medical Association chairman, Dr Alistair Humphrey, said that on the face of it, it looked to be fraudulent practise.
"I think there's a strong case to be answered here for fraud and I think the Police should be investigating," he told Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking this morning.
The only doctor in the country who can give such an exemption at this point is the Director-General of Health, Dr Ashley Bloomfield.
And employers were warned that anyone who provides a note from a doctor should look out for the official letterhead belonging to the Ministry of Health.
