Twenty-eight of the protesters who occupied Parliament grounds over the past month have now tested positive for Covid-19.
Protesters clashed with police during an early morning police operation at Parliament last week. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
In a statement, the Ministry of Health said 11 district health boards have reported Covid-19 cases from the protest, including Wairarapa, Waitematā, Waikato, Taranaki, Southern, MidCentral, Tairawhiti, Hutt Valley, Counties Manukau, Capital and Coast, and Canterbury.
"These people are thought to be protesters, although they have not been interviewed as they would have been prior to the recent changes in case investigation.
"In phase 3 [of the Omicron response], cases are not routinely interviewed by health officials and are instead asked to fill out a contact tracing form. Only cases that are identified through their interaction with the health system can therefore be identified as having attended the protest."
The ministry is urging all those who were at the 23-day occupation to get tested and vaccinated.
Wellington City Council has repairs and a clean-up underway of Parliament grounds after the 23-day occupation by protesters ended. Photo: Facebook / Wellington City Council
Meanwhile, Wellington City Council said most of the remaining protesters seemed to have left the capital over the weekend, except for a group at Mahanga Bay who were not on council land.
Work was well underway to remove rubbish, deep-clean, and repair damaged roads, street lights and sewer pipes, it said.
The Department of Conservation said there were no protesters left at its Catchpool Valley campsite in Remutaka Forest Park, which was now closed for cleaning.
Christchurch library shuts for two hours after protesters refused entry
Meanwhile in the South Island, Christchurch central city library shut for almost two hours this morning when 40 protesters who were stopped from entering refused to leave.
A council spokesperson said Tūranga was closed after a warning that a group linked to the Freedom and Rights Coalition might protest there.
The council was not considering increasing security staff in response to the incident.
A police spokesperson said the 40-strong group was refused entry to the library because they did not have vaccine passes.
Police arrived at the library, where the group stood outside for a while before leaving, but no one was arrested or trespassed from the building.