Covid 19 coronavirus: Two new cases in New Zealand linked to Mt Roskill cluster

There are two new Covid-19 cases - both in the community.

Both cases have an epidemiological link to an existing case and they are both associated with the bereavement events sub-cluster that is epidemiologically linked to the Mt Roskill Evangelical Fellowship group.

One of the cases is a student at Sunnyvale School in Henderson. They were not infectious when they last attended school and Auckland Regional Public Health Service has not identified any close contacts among the school community.

The Ministry of Health said the school remains open and safe for students and staff to attend.

There remain 33 cases in the Mt Roskill Evangelical Fellowship group and there are now 15 cases in the bereavement events group, which includes the cases whose source of infection was the bereavement events.

The Ministry 98 per cent of the congregation had now been re-tested.

"We want to thank them again for their participation in contributing to our efforts to control the wider Auckland cluster."

There are now 63 people linked to the community cluster who remain in the Auckland quarantine facility, which includes 47 people who have tested positive and their household contacts.

Since August 11, the contact tracing team has identified 3647 close contacts of cases, of which 3640 have been contacted and are self-isolating, the ministry said in a statement.

There are three people in hospital with covid-19 – one in isolation on a ward in Auckland City Hospital. Two are in ICU, at North Shore and Waikato hospitals.

With today's two new cases and eight additional recovered cases, our total number of active cases is 108. Of those, 38 are imported cases in MIQ facilities, and 70 are community cases.

The bereavement sub-cluster started when an infectious church member visited a bereaved family while Auckland was in level 3. The infectious person had been identified as a close contact of an infected person and should've been isolating at home.

All church members had been asked to be retested, and by 8am yesterday 82 per cent of the congregation had registered new tests.

There are 70 people linked to the wider Auckland cluster in quarantine at the Jet Park Hotel, which included 55 people who had tested positive, and their household contacts.

Of 3623 identified close contacts for this outbreak, 3608 have been contacted and are self-isolating.

Yesterday, three people were in hospital, two of them in intensive care - one at North Shore Hospital and the other at Waikato Hospital.

The ministry also confirmed yesterday that a confirmed case from Thursday was a student at Henderson North School, but said the student - a household contact of a previously reported case - was not infectious when they last attended school and there were no close contacts among the school community.

Auckland is currently at level 2.5, with the rest of New Zealand at level 2.

Cabinet will review those levels on Monday, with any confirmed changes taking effect from 11.59pm on Wednesday.

But the chances of a move to level 1 next week look unlikely with health experts and epidemiologists saying they would like to see a consistent run of zero daily cases.