Covid 19 coronavirus: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announces level 4 lockdown for Auckland, Coromandel, New Zealand

KEY POINTS
• Auckland and Coromandel will go into level 4 lockdown for seven days – and the rest of the country for three days – from 11.59pm tonight
• A 58-year-old Devonport man tested positive today after visiting a GP yesterday. He was infectious from August 12
• The man, who isn't vaccinated, and his wife travelled to Coromandel over the weekend. His wife is fully vaccinated
• There is no obvious link to the border at this stage
• While results of genome testing won't be back until tomorrow, it is being treated as a Delta case
• There are 15 locations of interest so far - 12 in the Coromandel, two in Auckland and one in Thames
• Testing centres will be open across Auckland on Wednesday, including a pop-up centre in Narrow Neck
• The Cook Islands has temporarily shut its travel bubble with New Zealand, announcing a 72 hour suspension on inbound travel

An Auckland cafe and pharmacy have been named as the city's first locations of interest as New Zealand heads into lockdown overnight after a positive Covid community case.

Auckland and Coromandel will go into level-4 lockdown for seven days – and the rest of the country for three days – following news of a community Covid-19 case in NZ's biggest city.

The lockdown will take effect from 11.59pm overnight, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said at a press conference on Tuesday evening.

The Covid-positive Auckland case is a 58-year-old man from Devonport and there is no obvious link between him and the border at this stage, Director General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said. The man is considered to have become infectious on August 12.

The Ministry of Health said it had identified two close contacts so far - they are colleagues of the man and are self-isolating. A Ministry of Health spokesperson said it is expected the number of close contacts will grow.

The positive Covid case and his wife travelled to Coromandel township on Friday and stayed for the weekend.

Fifteen locations of interest have been announced so far - 12 on the Coromandel peninsula, two in Auckland and one in Thames.

Crumb Cafe in Grey Lynn, Auckland. Photo / Fiona Goodall, Getty Images

Auckland
• Crumb Grey Lynn (Ariki St) - August 12 between 10am - 10.10am
• Devonport Pharmacy (33 Victoria Rd) - August 16 between 2.15pm - 2.30pm
Coromandel:
• Star and Garter Hotel (5 Kapanga Rd) - August 13 between 6.39pm - 7.40pm
• Umu Cafe (22 Wharf Rd) - August 13 between 7.40pm - 8.30pm
• BP Gas Station (Tiki Rd) - August 14 between 9.30am - 9.40am
• Driving Creek Railway Tours (380 Driving Creek Rd) - August 14 between 10.30am - 10.50am
• Jaks Cafe & Bar (104 Kapanga Rd) - August 14 between 10.50am - 11.30am
• Hereford 'n' a Pickle (2318 Colville Rd, RD 4, Colville) - August 14 between 1.25pm - 2.15pm
• Taras Beads (1/75 Kapanga Rd) - August 14 between 3pm - 3.10pm
• Richardsons Real Estate (151 Kapanga Rd) - August 14 between 3.30pm - 3.35pm
• Umu Cafe (22 Wharf Rd) - August 14 between 6.17pm - 7.11pm
• Star and Garter Hotel (5 Kapanga Rd) - August 14 between 7.11pm - 9.00pm
• Taras Beads (1/75 Kapanga Rd) - August 15 between 10am - 10.05am
• Umu Cafe (22 Wharf Rd) - August 15 between 10.14am - 11.10am
Thames:
Woodturner Café (3815 State Highway 2) - August 15 between 12.40pm - 1.25pm

The manager of the Star and Garter Hotel in Coromandel township, Mariya Kravchenko, said the bistro pub was quite busy on Friday and Saturday, guessing there would have been about 70 to 80 people on each night, especially on Saturday night for the All Blacks-Wallabies rugby test on TV.

She said the hotel closed just before 6pm on Tuesday night, and staff had been told to follow the guidelines and get a Covid test.

The Star & Garter pub in Coromandel township. Photo / Jim Eagles

Bloomfield said there would also likely be some locations of interest between Auckland and Coromandel.

Anyone who has been at the locations of interest at the time specified should self-isolate immediately and call Healthline.

Bloomfield said there are testing centres open across Auckland City until 8pm tonight.

Additional testing centres will be open across Auckland tomorrow, and all DHBs will be ensuring there is accessible testing across the country.

A pop-up community testing centre will be open tomorrow in Narrow Neck at the Woodall Park Carpark from 9am.

UPDATED Friday 20 August 11.04PM: Heath officials have advised this pop-up community testing centre at Woodhall Park...

Posted by Devonport-Takapuna Local Board on Tuesday, August 17, 2021

The infected man is not vaccinated, but his wife is fully vaccinated. Arrangements were being made to move the couple to the Jet Park MIQ facility.

Bloomfield said he was told of the case just after midday. The person went to the GP yesterday with symptoms to be tested.

Ardern said the positive case could not be confirmed as Delta until genome sequencing was confirmed tomorrow, but every recent MIQ case has been Delta.

Tara's Beads in Coromandel township. Photo / Google Maps

She said that has shaped this evening's decisions.

"We've seen the dire consequences of taking too long to act in other countries, not least our neighbours ... the bubble is back."

Ardern said the Delta variant is potentially twice as infectious and more liable to cause severe illness.

"We are one of the last countries in the world to have the Delta variant in our community. This has given us the chance to learn from others."

She said Delta was a "game-changer" and there needed to be a rapid response to stop the spread. "We only get one chance.

"One of the worst things about Covid-19 is the absolute uncertainty it creates, but we know this strategy works, and we know life will get easier. We just need to keep going."

Ardern said physical distancing was even more important given how easily Delta can be transmitted - including through the air. "Please wear a mask when leaving the house."

She clarified that during lockdown people can leave home for physical exercise in their neighbourhood, visiting the supermarket, dairy or pharmacy, necessary medical care, or getting a Covid test. Schools and other educational facilities will be closed.

There would be a 48-hour window for people to relocate. Those who live alone can join their bubbles with one other person who is also in a one-person bubble, Ardern said.

It was also preferable that only one person per household did the food shopping.

The Covid wage subsidy would be available to businesses across the country, not just Auckland and Coromandel, Ardern said.

Vaccinations would be suspended for 48 hours. Currently 40 per cent of NZ's eligible population has had at least one dose of the vaccine.

Meanwhile, the Cook Islands announced it would suspend inbound travel from New Zealand for 72 hours following the detection of a community case in New Zealand.

Prime Minister Mark Brown also announced the Cook Islands would move into alert level 2.

"While the epidemiological variance and transmission link for the community case in New Zealand is still being investigated, we must act swiftly here to minimise exposure risk for the Cook Islands so we remain safe," Brown said.

Air New Zealand has made a number of changes to its services.

"During Alert Level 4, travel is restricted to essential services only. Customers who are travelling should check they are eligible to travel under Alert Level 4 on the Government's Covid-19 website, as travel is severely limited," it said in a statement.

"For the next 48 hours, the airline will continue to operate its current schedule around the country to enable customers to return home to their place of residence."

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The All-of-Government Response Group started meeting at 3pm and Cabinet received an officials' briefing, including advice on what measures were needed, at 4.30pm.

The last reported community case of Covid-19 in New Zealand was in June when an Australian traveller visited Wellington.

Prior to that it was February 28, 170 days ago.

Last week, Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins told the country to expect an alert level 4 lockdown if any Delta cases pop up in the community.

All cases at the border in the past three weeks have been Delta.

The potential response Hipkins alluded to was different to past community cases with the original variant, which saw lower alert levels initially introduced for as long as 72 hours while further information was acquired.

Hipkins said the increased transmissibility of Delta and evidence of how quickly it could spread in New South Wales meant a "swift and severe" lockdown could be needed here if there were any new cases.

Other factors that could contribute to a stricter lockdown include the country's poor QR scanning habits, insufficient contact-tracing systems based on a Delta outbreak, and the Auckland population being still mostly unvaccinated.

High winter demand in hospitals also means they could be easily overwhelmed during an outbreak.

Meanwhile, Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown has announced the Cook Islands will move to Alert Level 2.

"After careful consideration by Cabinet this evening, and based on the information available at this time, all necessary precautions have been considered.

"While the epidemiological variance and transmission link for the community case in New Zealand is still being investigated, we must act swiftly here to minimize exposure risk for the Cook Islands so we remain safe," Brown said.

"This alert level change will mean that international inwards passenger arrivals for the next 72 hours are suspended. This pause on international arrivals will allow Te Marae Ora Ministry of Health to test arriving passengers from August 11.

"This also means domestic travel to the Pa Enua from Rarotonga is suspended for 72 hours also."

Passengers can return to New Zealand from Rarotonga. Passengers from Pa Enua can return back to Rarotonga.

Cook Islands Cabinet will meet again tomorrow to consider new updated information received and next steps.

And with all restaurants and cafes across the country asked to close, Uber Eats has temporarily suspended the app in New Zealand.

"Uber's ridesharing platform however, is classified by the NZ Government as an essential service and will remain online for those who need to travel from A to B. We will be rolling out messages in the Uber app to remind riders only to travel if they really need to and to exercise caution for their safety and the safety of our community," Uber said in a statement.