Staff gathered while waiting for customers at the Te Papa testing station in Wellington, on Day 7 of the Covid-19 alert level 4 lockdown. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Staff gathered while waiting for customers at the Te Papa testing station in Wellington, on Day 7 of the Covid-19 alert level 4 lockdown. Photo / Mark Mitchell
One new community case was announced in Wellington today, bringing the capital's outbreak total to 12.
The Wellington case was one of 63 new cases announced today - one of which was in MIQ - and the rest were in Auckland.
The new cases, which bring the current outbreak to210, were revealed at Wednesday's 1pm press conference, by Covid-19 Minister Chris Hipkins and director general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield.
The Wellington case was a known close contact of one of the existing confirmed cases, said Bloomfield.
Hipkins said yesterday had been a record day for vaccinations, with 80,000 jabs administered across the country. There were also 50,000 Covid tests conducted.
All quiet at the Te Papa testing station in Wellington, on Day 7 of the Covid-19 Alert level 4 lockdown. Photo / Mark Mitchell
It's been more than a week since the first community case of Covid-19 was detected in Auckland, plunging the country back into alert level 4 lockdown for the first time in over a year.
As at Monday, nearly a quarter of a million vaccines had been administered in the Wellington region, with 73,254 Wellingtonians now fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
Wellington mayor Andy Foster told Newstalk ZB's Nick Mills this morning he was cautiously optimistic about the current cases of Covid-19 in the capital.
"All of the cases are directly from Auckland or they are people who are household contacts of the people originally affected," he said.
But he acknowledged the Delta variant was dynamic and the situation could change rapidly.
Foster encouraged people to avoid busy areas of the city for exercise like Oriental Bay or Cobham Drive, if they could.
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There are 11 community testing centres open in the capital today, as well as primary care general practice testing. Yesterday Bloomfield said about 2500 tests were processed in the capital on Monday.
Wellington's Moa Point has recorded the only positive wastewater result outside of Auckland, which has continued to be the case over recent days.
Six of Wellington's cases were connected with a service at the Samoan Assembly of God church in Māngere, an event which has emerged as its own cluster within the wider outbreak.
Those six cases are either people who were at the service, or household contacts, or other close contacts, Bloomfield said yesterday.
Earlier this week, Victoria University vice-chancellor Grant Guilford emailed staff and students to advise them a staff member had tested positive for the virus.
The person was a close contact of two previously confirmed cases in Wellington, Guilford said.
No locations of interest were linked to the staff member, as they were not infectious until last Friday when the country was already at alert level 4.
Yesterday health authorities confirmed a number of cancer treatments had been deferred in the Wellington region as a result of lockdown.
Due to the evolving nature of the situation, and multiple extensions of level 4 they had been unable to provide an exact number.
"However, we can confirm that the number of cancer treatment deferrals has been low," said Hutt Valley DHB and Capital & Coast DHB director of provider services Joy Farley.
"We are doing everything we can to ensure appointments are not delayed for too long and all appointments are rescheduled based on a patient's assessed level of clinical need – as in, patients with the highest level of clinical need are prioritised."
Butchers are under pressure over limited meat supply and claim supermarkets are being prioritised in lockdown over their small businesses.
In alert level 4 butchers are not allowed to open their shops to the public, but are allowed to do online contactless deliveries.
Owner of Cameron Harrison Butchery & Delicatessen Rob Cameron said he had 300 orders to distribute this week, but half of his order from a chicken company didn't turn up yesterday.
"The harsh reality of it all is that the majority rule. The big guys seem to get their way because they spend more money."
Cameron Harrison Butchery & Delicatessen owner Rob Cameron has pumped out about 370 orders since lockdown began. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Owner of Paul's Meat Centre in Levin, Paul Douglas, said he was also struggling to supply his shop, and had elderly customers who depended on his delivery service.
Meanwhile, Wellington police have recorded hundreds of instances of speeding since the country went into alert level 4 a week ago.
Five people were caught drink driving and 87 speeding infringements were issued on Monday alone.
Wellington Police said one of these drivers was travelling at 130km/h.
The normally busy Wellington Waterfont, on day 6 of the alert level 4 lockdown. Photo / Mark Mitchell
On the first day of lockdown, 111 infringements were issued to motorists for speeding, with one driver travelling at 160km/h and several others caught at 130km/h and 145km/h.
Punters left hungry by the sudden halt of Wellington on a Plate were turning to their own kitchens instead, with Burger Wellington morphing into an online movement in search of the capital's best level 4 feed.
Leaning into the growing social media trend Wellington on a Plate festival director Sarah Meikle said they decided to make it official – launching Burger WellingtIN.
At home chefs can enter the challenge by tagging their burger creations with @wellyonaplate and @garageproject and hashtagging #BurgerWellingtIN and #LockdownBurgerWelly.
The top three burger entries would be selected by festival organisers each day, with finalists later competing in a post-lockdown cook-off.
