News article
Nelson-Marlborough DHB is expected to become the tenth DHB to hit the 90% fully vaccinated milestone later today based on uptake among its eligible population, with just 246 doses to go as of 11.59pm yesterday.
Next in line based on uptake by their eligible populations are South Canterbury DHB (195 doses to go); Hawkes Bay DHB (1,714 doses); and Waikato (3,557 doses), which are expected to reach this soon.
For Māori vaccinations, Wairarapa DHB has just 4 doses remaining to reach 90% partially vaccinated for its population; while Southern DHB has 42 doses to go, and Waitemata has 225 doses to go to reach this milestone. They will soon join the five other DHBs to have reached this mark, while Auckland DHB and Capital and Coast DHB are neck and neck to become the first DHBs to reach 90% fully vaccinated for Maori, with 1,118 doses and 1,154 does to go respectively.
For our Pacific communities, MidCentral DHB has just 6 doses to go to reach 90% of its Pacific population being fully vaccinated, with Canterbury only 10 doses away, and Waikato with just 108 doses to go. Nine other DHBs have already hit this milestone.
Omicron update
The total number of international arrivals to New Zealand with the Omicron variant remains at 22 today.
Of the total Omicron cases to date, all remain in managed isolation with the exception of one case who has now recovered and been released as they are no longer infectious.
Health and MIQ teams have been carefully planning for Omicron cases at the border and will continue to manage all arrivals cautiously. This includes isolation and testing requirements for all new arrivals, robust infection and prevention control and PPE measures at airports and MIQ facilities, and frequent surveillance testing of staff who have any contact with recent international returnees.
COVID-19 vaccine update
- Vaccines administered to date (percentage of eligible people): 3,966,212 first doses (94%); 3,808,013 second doses (90%); 25,313 third primary doses; 227,559 booster doses
- Vaccines administered yesterday: 1,860 first doses; 6,273 second doses; 637 third primary doses and 11,558 booster doses.
- Māori (percentage of eligible people): 496,932 first doses (87%); 445,578 second doses (78%)
- Pacific Peoples (percentage of eligible people): 268,629 first doses (94%); 253,432 second doses (88%)
Vaccination rates by DHB with active cases (percentage of eligible people)
- Northland DHB: First doses (88%); second doses (83%)
- Auckland Metro DHBs: First doses (96%); second doses (93%)
- Waikato DHB: First doses (93%); second doses (89%)
- Bay of Plenty DHB: First doses (93%); second doses (88%)
- Lakes DHB: First doses (91%); second doses (86%)
- Taranaki DHB: First doses (93%); second doses (88%)
- Nelson-Marlborough DHB: First doses (95%); second doses (90%)
- Canterbury DHB: First doses (98%); second doses (94%)
Hospitalisations
- Cases in hospital: 57; North Shore: 10; Auckland: 25; Middlemore: 19; Northland 1; Waikato: 2
- Vaccination status of current hospitalisations (Northern Region wards only, excluding those in ED): Unvaccinated or not eligible (28 cases / 55%); partially immunised <7 days from second dose or have only received one dose (6 cases / 12%); fully vaccinated at least 7 days before being reported as a case (11 cases / 21%); unknown (6 cases / 12%)
- Average age of current hospitalisations: 49
- Cases in ICU or HDU: 7 (1 in North Shore; 2 in Auckland; 3 in Middlemore, 1 in Northland)
Cases
- Seven day rolling average of community cases: 67
- Number of new community cases: 28
- Number of new cases identified at the border: 5
- Location of new community cases: Auckland (21), Bay of Plenty (5), Taranaki (2).
- Number of community cases (total): 10,320 (in current community outbreak)
- Cases epidemiologically linked (total): 7,647
- Number of active cases (total): 1,675 (cases identified in the past 21 days and not yet classed as recovered)
- Confirmed cases (total): 13,161
Contacts
- Number of active contacts being managed (total): 6,664
- Percentage who have received an outbound call from contact tracers (to confirm testing and isolation requirements): 85%
- Percentage who have returned at least one result: 77%
Tests
- Number of tests total (last 24 hours): 14,745
- Tests rolling average (last 7 days): 21,019
- Auckland tests total (last 24 hours): 9,160
Wastewater
- No unexpected detections
NZ COVID Tracer
- Poster scans in 24 hours to midday yesterday: 3,019,693
- Manual diary entries in 24 hours to midday: 43,117
My Vaccine Pass
- My vaccine pass downloads total: 4,407,281
- My vaccine pass downloads (last 24 hours): 15,254
|
Arrival date |
From |
Via |
Positive test day/reason |
Managed isolation/quarantine location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
17 December |
Tanzania |
United Arab Emirates |
Day 3 / routine |
Auckland |
|
16 December |
United Kingdom |
Singapore |
Day 3 / routine |
Auckland |
|
19 December |
Full travel history to be confirmed |
Singapore |
Day 0 / routine |
Auckland |
|
18 December |
United Kingdom |
Qatar |
Day 1 / routine |
Auckland |
|
15 December |
Full travel history to be determined |
Singapore |
Day 5 / routine |
Christchurch |
Today’s cases
Today, we are reporting new community cases in Auckland, Bay of Plenty, and Taranaki. Today we are also adding three previously reported cases to Canterbury’s total community case numbers. We reported these cases as confirmed initially before they were reclassified as ‘under investigation.’ They have subsequently been reclassified again as confirmed cases.
Regional updates
We are continuing to ask anyone in New Zealand with symptoms – no matter how mild – to get tested, even if you’re vaccinated. Please stay at home until you return a negative test result. Testing and vaccination centre locations nationwide can be found on the Healthpoint website.
Auckland
Today, there are 21 new cases being reported in Auckland.
Health and welfare providers are now supporting 2,015 people to isolate at home, including 569 cases.
Child accompanied the traveller who self-discharged from hospital early Monday
The recent returnee who was transferred from managed isolation to Middlemore Hospital and left without being discharged, was accompanied by their child. The child was transferred in the ambulance with the parent as the age of the child meant they could not be left unattended in managed isolation.
Police are currently investigating the early Monday morning incident.
The parent tested negative twice; first on Day 0 in managed isolation. A further Rapid Antigen Test, upon arrival at the hospital on Sunday night, returned a negative result.
We want to reiterate the importance of the pair returning to managed isolation to complete their isolation period and to have further testing on Day 3 and Day 6.
Information regarding the pair is being released in this update to aid the investigation.
Bay of Plenty
There are five cases to report in Bay of Plenty today – four are in the Tauranga area and one in Murapara.
The Murupara case is a household contact of a previously reported case.
Local iwi health provider Te Ika Whenua Hauora is managing testing and vaccination with support from the DHB. A testing centre was opened yesterday and details are available on the Healthpoint website.
Taranaki
Today, two new cases are being reported in Taranaki - one is linked to the Eltham cluster, and the other is linked to a case in New Plymouth.
This takes the total active cases in the region to 32.
Local testing sites can be found on the Taranaki DHB website.
Christmas break updates
Over the Christmas break there will be daily COVID-19 updates published as news articles on the Ministry of Health website and tweeted, apart from on:
- Saturday 25 December
- Saturday 1 January
- Saturday 8 January.