The Delta variant is a highly contagious Sars-CoV-2 virus strain. Video / Paul Slater
By the start of this week, Covid-19 had already spread through 26 different Bay of Plenty district suburbs since the first local cases of the Delta-variant outbreak were discovered last month.
Since the beginning of the outbreak on August 17, there had been 101 confirmed or probable community cases asof Monday. There have been 34 cases since.
It comes after New Zealand reached 90 per cent fully vaccinated, however, there is still a little way to go for the Bay of Plenty District Health Board which has 7223 doses to go before hitting the 90 per cent fully vaccinated milestone. This figure was accurate as of Thursday.
Bay of Plenty DHB Covid-19 response manager Brent Gilbert De-Rios said the DHB was still on track to achieve the 90 per cent fully vaccinated milestone by the end of the year.
The board's Covid-19 incident controller, Trevor Richardson, said while the DHB was pleased to see Bay of Plenty residents getting vaccinated, there was "more mahi to be done".
"Over the last few weeks, we've seen significant increases in second doses across the rohe," he said.
"The gains we've seen in our vaccination uptake are owed to empowered communities and iwi providers encouraging vaccination uptake among their hapori in the ways that they know will resonate.
"We're proudly supporting a 'by community, for community' approach across the rohe."
The Bay of Plenty District Health Board Covid-19 incident controller Trevor Richardson. Photo / George Novak
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has previously warned more cases were expected once Auckland's border lifted – which it did on Wednesday.
While that might be the case, a public health expert says the risk to the rest of the country "is relatively small" and, like Australia, it might be more beneficial to focus on hospitalisations rather than case numbers.
"We're waiting to see what happens with the Auckland exodus. I'm not expecting much on this side of Christmas but I may be wrong," University of Waikato Professor of public health Ross Lawrenson said.
"As long as people are careful, I don't think the risks, particularly when coming into high vaccinated population, are too great.
University of Waikato Professor of public health Ross Lawrenson. Photo / Supplied
"[In Australia], they claim we should talk about vaccination rates and hospitalisations ... It's not about the up and down of the cases but who is getting sick."
There were 10 new Covid-19 community cases in the Bay of Plenty yesterday and 76 in New Zealand. All Bay of Plenty cases were in the Tauranga area. Nationally, 51 cases were in hospital and five were in ICU. Two cases were in Tauranga Hospital.
Meanwhile, the fully vaccinated rate for the entire district was 87 per cent and 93 per cent had received one dose as of Thursday.
The first two cases in the Bay of Plenty District Health Board area were discovered on November 18 in Mount Maunganui and Pyes Pā, a Ministry of Health spokesperson said.
"The source of infection for the first cases reported in the Bay of Plenty is not clear, however genomic sequencing links early cases to the Auckland outbreak in general," they said.
"Transmission has been mostly been among close contacts in social groups and households."
Areas with the highest number of households with a virus case were in Mount Maunganui and Pāpāmoa, followed by Tauranga South and Welcome Bay.
On Wednesday, Mount Maunganui Central had a fully vaccinated rate of 83.5 per cent, Mount Maunganui North was 88.2 per cent and Mount Maunganui South 91.5 per cent.
Pāpāmoa Beach North had 82.8 per cent fully vaccinated and Pāpāmoa Beach South was slightly better with 84 per cent.
Tauranga South had 87.6 per cent fully vaccinated and Pyes Pā West had 92 per cent, Pyes Pā South had 89.8 per cent, Pyes Pā North 88 per cent and on Pyes Pā East 81.2 per cent.
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The virus has spread throughout several school communities across the district.
Maungatapu School last weekconfirmed a student had tested positive for Covid-19. Meanwhile, another moved to online learning for the rest of the term.
Te Akau Ki Pāpāmoa School announced on December 6 it would operate via distance learning only until the end of the term on Tuesday. It came after five members of the school community tested positive for Covid-19. All students and staff members were considered close contacts.
There had also been cases among the school communities of Brookfield School, Te Puna School, Mount Maunganui Intermediate School.
Meanwhile, in the Lakes DHB area, the source of infection for the original case on November 12 is still being investigated, the ministry spokesperson said.
Since the start of the Delta outbreak, there have been 34 confirmed or probable community cases as of Monday. There have been four cases since.
"Confirmed and probable cases have been reported from approximately 10 different suburbs across the Lakes district," they said.
"The majority of cases have been reported in the urban centres of Rotorua and Taupō."
Again, transmission has mostly been among close contacts in social groups and households.
Tauranga City Council commission chairwoman Anne Tolley. Photo / George Novak
Tauranga City Council commission chairwoman Anne Tolley said it was "great news" that more than 90 per cent of eligible Kiwis were now fully vaccinated, and urged anyone who still had not been vaccinated to do so quickly.
"Vaccination is the best way to keep ourselves and our families and friends safe this holiday season – it's safe, free and readily available, and we know it is effective in reducing the chance of catching Covid and even more effective in preventing serious illness and hospitalisation."
Upcoming Covid-19 vaccination pop-up clinics:
• Merivale Community Centre on December 18 from 10am to 2pm • Fraser Cove on December 18 from 12pm to 5pm • Ōpōtiki Indigenous Impact Initiative Centre on December 20 from 9.30am to 3pm • Kawerau Town Hall on December 20 from 9am to 4pm • Katikati RSA on December 22 from 10am to 3pm.
