Māori to reach 90% first doses today; 209 community cases; 9 in hospital

Māori across Aotearoa will today reach 90% partial vaccination (first dose). As of 11am this morning, they were just 142 doses away from reaching this important milestone.

With Omicron in New Zealand, one of the best things you can do is get your booster as soon as it is due. From today, 1 million people are now eligible for their booster after the interval was reduced from four to three months.

Boosters lower your chances of getting very sick and being hospitalised. Being boosted also helps slow the spread of the virus. If you’re over 18 and your booster is due, please get it now.

Testing
The Ministry is reminding that only those who have COVID-19 symptoms – or have been at a location of interest at the relevant time – need to get a test and isolate at home until a negative result is returned.
The most common early symptoms of the Omicron variant are a sore or scratchy throat, and a runny nose. If you have any of these symptoms, please get a test.

Waitangi weekend reminder
We are reminding you that if you are going away this Waitangi weekend, you should have plans in place in the event you are identified as a close contact, get COVID-19 symptoms, or find out you have COVID-19.
You are likely to need to self-isolate wherever you become a close contact or test positive, so there may be extra costs involved in paying for additional accommodation and changing your travel plans.

COVID-19 vaccine update
• Vaccines administered to date (percentage of eligible people): 4,045,772 first doses (96%); 3,969,817 second doses (94%); 1,445,598 booster doses (71%)
• Vaccines administered yesterday: 870 first doses; 1,817 second doses; 4,501 paediatric doses; 45,931 booster doses.
• Māori (percentage of eligible people aged 12+): 513,799 first doses (89.9%); 487,983 second doses (85%).
• Pacific Peoples (percentage of eligible people aged 12+): 277,873 first doses (97%); 270,147 second doses (94%).
• Paediatric vaccines administered to date (percentage of 5-11-year-olds): 188,220 first doses (40%)
• Māori (percentage of eligible people aged 5-11): 25,350 first doses (22%)
• Pacific Peoples (percentage of eligible people aged 5-11): 14,411 first doses (29%)

Vaccination rates for all DHBs (percentage of eligible people aged 12 +)
• Northland DHB: First doses (89.8%); second doses (87%)
• Auckland Metro DHBs: First doses (97%); second doses (96%)
• Waikato DHB: First doses (95%); second doses (93%)
• Bay of Plenty DHB: First doses (95%); second doses (92%)
• Lakes DHB: First doses (93%); second doses (90%)
• MidCentral DHB: First doses (96%); second doses (94%)
• Tairawhiti DHB: First doses (93%); second doses (89%)
• Whanganui DHB: First doses (92%); second doses (89.6%)
• Hawke’s Bay: First doses (97%); second doses (94%)
• Taranaki DHB: First doses (94%); second doses (92%)
• Wairarapa DHB: First doses (96%); second doses (94%)
• Capital and Coast DHB: First doses (98%); second doses (97%)
• Hutt Valley DHB: First doses (97%); second doses (95%)
• Nelson Marlborough DHB: First doses (96%); second doses (95%)
• West Coast DHB: First doses (93%); second doses (90%)
• Canterbury DHB: First doses (99%); second doses (98%)
• South Canterbury DHB: First doses (95%); second doses (93%)
• Southern DHB: First doses (98%); second doses (96%)

Hospitalisations
• Cases in hospital: 9; North Shore: 2; Middlemore: 1; Auckland: 2; Rotorua: 2; Hawkes Bay: 1; Christchurch: 1
• Average age of current hospitalisations: 52
• Cases in ICU or HDU: 1
• Vaccination status of current hospitalisations (Northern Region wards only): For privacy reasons, we are unable to report this information when hospitalisations are below five. 

Cases
• Seven day rolling average of community cases: 128
• Seven day rolling average of border cases: 49
• Number of new community cases: 209
• Number of new cases identified at the border: 64
• Location of new community cases: Northland (21), Auckland (99), Waikato (51), Lakes (15), Bay of Plenty (15), Hawke’s Bay (3), Tairāwhiti (4), MidCentral (1)
• Number of community cases (total): 12,630 (in current community outbreaks)
• Cases epidemiologically linked (total): 9,355
• Number of active cases (total): 1,298 (cases identified in the past 21 days and not yet classified as recovered)
• Confirmed cases (total): 16,901

Contacts
Number of active contacts being managed (total): 5,253
Percentage who has received an outbound call from contact tracers (to confirm testing and isolation requirements): 76%
Percentage who has returned at least one result: 73%

Tests
Number of tests total (last 24 hours): 20,525
Tests rolling average (last 7 days): 19,779
Auckland tests total (last 24 hours): 10,383

Wastewater
There was positive detection of the virus in a sample taken from Whatuwhiwhi on 31 January. There was also a positive wastewater sample collected from Mangawhai on 1 February. Anyone in these area with symptoms is asked to please get a test. For testing locations in Northland, visit the Healthpoint website.

NZ COVID Tracer
Poster scans in the 24 hours to midday yesterday: 2,382,036
Manual diary entries in the 24 hours to midday:  44,476My Vaccine Pass
Total issued to date: 5,029,692
Total yesterday: 15,703

Today’s cases
We are reporting new community cases in Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Lakes, Bay of Plenty, Tairāwhiti, Hawke’s Bay and MidCentral.

We are also reporting three cases in Nelson Marlborough which will be officially added to the case numbers tomorrow.

Northland
Today we are reporting 21 new cases in Northland.

These include 12 cases in Kerikeri, five in Hokianga and four in Whangārei.

There were two new locations of interest published for Northland yesterday, both in Kerikeri. Please check the Ministry of Health website for latest locations of interest.

Auckland
There are 99 cases to report in Auckland today.

Health and welfare providers are now supporting 1,692 people in the region to isolate at home, including 642 cases.

Waikato
We are reporting 51 cases in the Waikato today.

Of these, 23 are linked to previously reported case and the rest remain under investigation for links to known cases.

Eighteen of these cases are based in Hamilton, one is in Matamata and the others are still under investigation.

Lakes
We are reporting 15 new cases in the Rotorua district today, with 13 linked to existing cases and two yet to be connected to the outbreak.

Bay of Plenty
There are 15 cases to report in the Bay of Plenty today, all linked to previously reported cases.

Of these cases, six are in Tauranga and nine in the Western Bay of Plenty.

Radius Lexham Park, Katikati

We are reporting a case in a resident at Radius Lexham Park aged residential care facility in Katikati. The case is linked to a previous case in a staff member at the facility who tested positive on 27 January.

All residents have been self-isolating and daily Rapid Antigen Tests are being carried out for all staff and residents. The facility is following the recommended response measures including staff wearing full PPE.

Tairāwhiti
There are four new cases to report in Tairāwhiti today.

Three of these cases are household contacts of previously reported cases and were isolating when they tested positive.

One of these cases remains under investigation for links to a previously reported case.

In addition, we are announcing one further case in the region whose links to a previously reported case also remains under investigation. This case is not included in today’s numbers as the Ministry was notified after the daily reporting cut-off.

Hawke’s Bay
Today we are reporting three new cases in Hawke’s Bay.

All three cases are linked to previously reported cases and were already isolating when they tested positive.

MidCentral
Today we are reporting one new case in MidCentral. They are a household contact of a case and were already in isolation.

Nelson Marlborough
We are announcing three cases in the Marlborough region today.

All these cases were known close contacts of previously reported cases. They are isolating when they tested positive. Investigations are underway to identify any exposure events associated with these cases.

These cases are not included in today’s numbers as the Ministry was notified after the daily reporting cut-off.