Four new community cases in Auckland: all Delta variant

Aug 18, 2021

Main image: Auckland's Queen Street, deserted this morning under Level 4.

New Zealand has four new cases of Covid-19 in the community, all connected to the first case discovered yesterday, which is confirmed as the highly transmissible Delta variant.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told RNZ's Morning Report one of the new cases is a nurse at Auckland Hospital.

"This individual is fully vaccinated."

Ardern said they were all contacts of the original case.

She said Auckland Hospital was taking all the precautions they normally would.

"They are stopping movement between wards, testing all staff and patients on wards where that individual worked."

"It confirms level 4 is the right decision," Ardern said.

"These measures have worked before and they will work again."

Cook Islands bubble suspended

The Cook Islands Prime Minister says the travel bubble with New Zealand has been suspended.

 Mark Brown says the epidemiological variance and transmission link for the community case in New Zealand is still being investigated. But he says the Cook Islands must act swiftly to minimize exposure risk for the nation to remain safe.

 The Cook Islands will move to Alert Level 2, effective midnight August 16, 2021.

 Cook Islands News reports the alert level change will mean that international inwards passenger arrivals for 72 hours through to Thursday are suspended.

 This pause on international arrivals will also allow Te Marae Ora Ministry of Health to test arriving passengers from 11 August.

 Domestic travel to the Pa Enua or outer islands from Rarotonga is suspended for 72 hours also. Passengers can return to New Zealand from Rarotonga. Passengers from Pa Enua can return back to Rarotonga

 

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