New Zealand records 41 new local cases of Covid-19 in Delta outbreak

An outbreak of the Delta variant in New Zealand has exploded, with the nation recording 41 new cases of community transmission.

An outbreak of the Delta variant in New Zealand that stemmed from the Sydney cluster has exploded, with the nation recording 41 new cases of community transmission.

Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield told reporters during an update today that the infections bring the total number of cases in the week-old Auckland cluster to 148.

Dr Bloomfield stressed that while cases were growing, they weren’t out of control.

“Yes, we’ve seen an increase today but reassuringly we’re not seeing an exponential growth in case numbers. So that’s good,” he said.

“And we’re also seeing that the vast majority are in Auckland, with the Wellington-based ones linked to [existing] cases.”

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Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield announced an outbreak in Auckland has now grown to 148 cases. Picture: Mark Mitchell – Pool/Getty Images

Most cases were among people of Samoan ethnicity, he added, which was a “reflection of the largest sub-cluster” of the outbreak, linked to a church in Auckland.

Dr Bloomfield said he agreed with Australia’s Department of Health Secretary Professor Brendan Murphy, who he spoke to yesterday, that “combating Delta in the community is like dealing with a whole new virus”.

“That is our experience in New Zealand, too,” he said.

“Delta is unlike our previous experience, it is, as we know, highly infectious and transmissible, and as we have seen, spreads rapidly.”

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New Zealand is “still very much in the thick of this outbreak”, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday. Picture: Mark Mitchell – Pool/Getty Images

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told reporters yesterday that New Zealand is “still very much in the thick of this outbreak”, which genome sequencing linked to a case in a returned traveller from Sydney who had been in hotel quarantine in Auckland.

“We don’t yet believe we’ve reached the peak of this outbreak or necessarily the edges of it,” Ms Ardern said.

A national lockdown, put in place by the Prime Minister last week, has been extended until at least this Friday, while stay-at-home orders in Auckland are expected to remain in place until August 31 at the earliest.

“For now, absolutely, elimination is the strategy, particularly where we vaccinate our people going through into the year,” Ms Ardern said.