There were 65 community cases of Covid-19 today, as the government and health providers prepared for Super Saturday's "Vaxathon".
There were 65 community cases today among other developments including news on isolation periods, concerns held by Māori leaders, and preparation for the Super Saturday Vaxathon. Photo: RNZ / Supplied / 123RF
Here are some of the coronavirus-related developments from today.
Case update
All of today's 65 cases were recorded in Auckland.
There was no media conference today. In a statement, the ministry said 34 of these cases were linked, 10 were household contacts, and 31 remained unlinked with investigations continuing. There have been 107 unlinked cases in the past 14 days.
While the cases were all in Tāmaki Makaurau, a second test for Covid-19 in Te Awamutu's wastewater returned a positive result. The sample was taken on Wednesday, after detection of Covid-19 in wastewater on Tuesday.
Super Saturday and the Vaxathon
More than 120 extra vaccination sites will be open for tomorrow's 'Super Saturday' event, with the Ministry of Health saying vaccines remain New Zealand's "number one protection against Covid-19".
The Vaxathon aims to boost vaccination numbers by around 100,000.
The event will run from 12pm to 8pm on Saturday and will be broadcast on multiple platforms, including TV3, Māori Television and on Hahana's Facebook page.
Well-known celebrities, influencers and health professionals will front the live broadcast to help capture the atmosphere and experiences of those receiving their first or second vaccine
RNZ will be providing on air and online coverage, including a live blog, from across the nation.
There's more about Super Saturday here.
Māori leaders continue to raise concerns
National Māori Pandemic Group, Te Rōpū Whakakaupapa Urutā co-leader Dr Papaarangi Reid said she was concerned about the trajectory of the outbreak in Auckland.
Reid told Morning Report the group supported calls for an alert level 4 circuit breaker lockdown in Auckland, to give Māori a chance to increase vaccination rates.
"... a circuit breaker would be ideal, to go back to a sharp level 4 conditions to buy us some time to increase vaccination rates and to decrease the spread that's obviously happening in the community in Auckland."
But Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins has ruled out moving back to level 4.
Reid's concerns come after a coalition of Māori health organisations in Auckland has urged the government to return to a Covid-19 elimination strategy, saying many Māori will die if it does not.
Delaying exams
New rules leave it to principals to decide if their students should sit exams in alert level 3 regions.
The Ministry of Education directive sets strict conditions and is being applied by Auckland schools offering the Cambridge International Exams and the International Baccalaureate.
The ministry has been granting exemptions for schools wanting to bring small groups of students back to class during alert level 3 and since mid-September it had approved 16 of 17 applications from schools wanting to do so for exams.
It said the directive issued this week clarified the rules for running exams during alert level 3.
The directive said principals could apply for an exemption to offer exams only if in their opinion it was necessary to bring students on-site to sit exams in person.
Isolation periods likely to be shorter for the vaccinated
Those who contract Covid-19 despite being fully vaccinated are likely to require shorter periods in isolation, Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said today.
Bloomfield told Morning Report that vaccinated people appeared to be infectious for a shorter period of time.
"They're less likely to pass on the virus and if they are infectious, they are infectious for a shorter period so therefore, especially if they're asymptomatic ... they would only require a shorter period at home."
By contrast, those who are unvaccinated - even if they didn't have symptoms - were more likely to pass on the virus, Bloomfield said.
"So they would need to remain isolated to avoid passing it on to others, for a longer period."