There are 13 new cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand - 12 in the community and one in isolation. And New Zealanders were today given a strong warning not to trust unverified information they may read on social media.
Health Minister Chris Hipkins isn't ruling out making wearing masks in public mandatory and has signalled mass masking could be brought in once supply issues are sorted.
And New Zealanders should anticipate more waves of Covid-19 especially given the source of this second wave is still a mystery, Hipkins says.
Last week officials were working with lawyers to establish whether the Health Ministry could seek a legal notice requiring mass masking in Auckland.
Aucklanders under alert level 3 are currently strongly encouraged to wear a mask whenever they leave the house, and the rest of New Zealand is being asked to wear one where they can't physically distance, like on public transport.
Today Hipkins said the Government was working through supply issues but once they were sorted he "wouldn't rule out" making masks compulsory.
"We've never ruled out compulsion around masks. We're dealing with supply issues first and foremost - that's our key priority here - making sure that masks are available to everybody," he told TVNZ's Q&A this morning.
Countdown and Foodstuffs have supplied masks and five million of the Government's general supply is being distributed across the country.
On Friday, the Government sent out 1.6 million face coverings to 125 social sector groups in Auckland, including food banks, churches, iwi, aged-care organisations, city missions, and other informal networks.
Hipkins again implored Aucklanders to wear a face covering and reminded them it didn't have to be a medical mask - a homemade one would do.
"People are being very inventive and creative in that and good on them," he said.
"If you're going to the beach or if you're going to places where other people will be - please wear a mask and stay 2m apart from one another."
Some New Zealanders are making their own masks. Aucklanders are strongly encouraged to wear masks in public during alert level 3. Photo / Whanganui Chronicle
New Zealanders shouldn't rule out another outbreak - especially given the source of this outbreak was a still a mystery.
"It's a bit like saying, 'How likely is an earthquake?' You just don't know but you have to be prepared for it," Hipkins said.
"This one's a bit of a puzzle because it came out of nowhere and we got on top of it very quickly. The level 3 lockdown is certainly helping enormously in that regard. The contact tracing system is working even better than we expected it to - which is very reassuring."
But the New Zealand's strategy was still elimination, which would mean more restrictions to contain any future outbreaks but it was key to move in and out of lockdowns very quickly.
Hipkins said if everyone played their part - by wearing a mask, staying 2m apart, washing their hands and keeping contact tracing diaries - lockdowns could be lifted quickly.
So far, about 1500 close contacts of the confirmed cases have been identified and of those about 1300 have been contacted. "Our strategy is to make sure we're doing everything we can to stop there being an outbreak and where there are outbreaks, to contain them."
The Swedish strategy is often used as a comparison but they have had more than 5700 deaths and are now also preparing for a second wave.
