All Access. All in one subscription. From $2 per week
Subscribe now

All Access Weekly

From $2 per week
Pay just
$15.75
$2
per week ongoing
Subscribe now
BEST VALUE

All Access Annual

Pay just
$449
$49
per year ongoing
Subscribe now
Learn more
30
Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Rotorua Daily Post

Covid 19 Delta outbreak: 31 new cases in the community - new border-related Omicron case

Adam Pearse
By Adam Pearse
Deputy Political Editor·NZ Herald·
3 Jan, 2022 11:30 PM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Focus: NZ Delta Outbreak | Tues 4 January Wrap
There are a total of 31 new cases of Covid-19 in the community today. 14 are in Auckland, one is in Waikato, 12 are in Bay of Plenty and four in Lakes. Video / NZ Herald ...
Video Player is loading.
Current Time 0:00
/
Duration 0:00
Loaded: 0%
0:00
Stream Type LIVE
Remaining Time -0:00
 
1x
    • Chapters
    • descriptions off, selected
    • captions settings, opens captions settings dialog
    • captions off, selected

      This is a modal window.

      Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.

      Text
      Text Background
      Caption Area Background
      Font Size
      Text Edge Style
      Font Family

      End of dialog window.

      This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button.

      FamilyBoost: Government tweaking flagship tax policy, changes to impact ‘tens of thousands’

      UP NEXT:

      Autoplay in
      1
      Disable Autoplay
      Cancel Video
      There are a total of 31 new cases of Covid-19 in the community today. 14 are in Auckland, one is in Waikato, 12 are in Bay of Plenty and four in Lakes. Video / NZ Herald
      NOW PLAYING • Focus: NZ Delta Outbreak | Tues 4 January Wrap
      There are a total of 31 new cases of Covid-19 in the community today. 14 are in Auckland, one is in Waikato, 12 are in Bay of Plenty and four in Lakes. Video / NZ Herald ...

      There is a third border-related case with the Omicron variant, the Ministry of Health said today.

      There are a total of 31 new cases of Covid-19 in the community, the latest data shows.

      The person with Omicron, who is fully vaccinated, is a household contact of the Air New Zealand crew member who tested positive last week with the highly transmissible variant.

      They have been in isolation during their symptomatic period. Public health staff are continuing to investigate. However, at this stage there are no locations of interest or exposure events.

      The household contact has now been transferred to a MIQ facility. The second household contact, who is also in isolation, continues to test negative.

      All Access. All in one subscription. From $2 per week
      Subscribe now

      All Access Weekly

      From $2 per week
      Pay just
      $15.75
      $2
      per week ongoing
      Subscribe now
      BEST VALUE

      All Access Annual

      Pay just
      $449
      $49
      per year ongoing
      Subscribe now
      Learn more
      30
      Advertisement
      Advertise with NZME.
      Advertisement
      Advertise with NZME.

      Twenty-nine cases have been found at the border and some are expected to have the Omicron variant. Whole genome sequencing was ongoing.

      Of today's community cases, 14 are in Auckland, one is in Waikato, 12 are in Bay of Plenty and four in Lakes.

      Fifty-three people with Covid-19 are in hospital. Nine are at North Shore, 16 at Auckland, 22 at Middlemore, five at Tauranga and one at Rotorua.

      Advertisement
      Advertise with NZME.

      Almost half (20) are either unvaccinated or ineligible for the vaccine. Eight people had received one dose, 14 were fully vaccinated, with the remainder unknown.

      Of the six people in intensive care or high dependency units, three are at Middlemore and three at Tauranga

      In Auckland, 1174 people are isolating at home, including 340 people with the virus.

      The one new case in the Waikato is in Waharoa and has been linked to previous cases.

      Fifty-six people with the virus in Waikato are isolating at home.

      Of the Bay of Plenty's 12 cases, 11 are in Tauranga and one is in the Western BOP district. Eight are linked to other cases while investigations are ongoing for the others.

      In the Lakes area, the four new cases are in Rotorua and all linked to previous cases.

      There have been no unexpected wastewater detections in the past 24 hours.

      A total of 6188 vaccines were administered yesterday - 363 first doses, 1306 second doses, 25 third primary doses and 4494 booster doses.

      The number of booster doses administered was 1500 greater than Sunday. The interval between getting a second dose and a booster reduces from six to four months tomorrow.

      Advertisement
      Advertise with NZME.

      Overall, 92 per cent of Kiwis are fully vaccinated, 94 per cent have had at least one dose. The levels for Pasifika are almost identical, with 91 per cent fully vaccinated and 95 per cent with one dose.

      For Māori, 81 per cent were double dosed and 88 per cent were partially vaccinated, the Ministry of Health said.

      Yesterday, no further cases of the highly transmissible Omicron variant had been registered in the community or at the border. About 90 people with Omicron had been intercepted at the border so far.

      Case numbers were low yesterday, at just 27 - 12 were in Auckland, 7 in Waikato, 7 in the Bay of Plenty and 1 in the Lakes DHB area.

      There were 24 new cases in MIQ but none had yet been identified as the Omicron variant.

      All contacts of the Omicron case who was out in the community last week - DJ Dimension - had tested negative to date as testing continued.

      Advertisement
      Advertise with NZME.

      It comes as the Ministry of Health revealed the DJ - real name Robert Etheridge - wouldn't be referred to police for prosecution following Etheridge leaving home isolation early and risking spreading the new variant in the community.

      Nearly 100 people have been ordered to self-isolate as a result of his excursions, which included visiting the Impala nightclub.

      "The ministry continues to assess the need for enforcement action in relation to breaches of the Covid-19 Public Health Response Order on a case-by-case basis, and may seek action in instances where this would support the public health response," the ministry said in a statement.

      DJ Dimesnion aka Robert Etheridge. Photo / Supplied
      DJ Dimesnion aka Robert Etheridge. Photo / Supplied

      A police spokeswoman said any enforcement action over broken isolation rules would come after consultation with the Ministry of Health – and would generally follow a referral from it, which hadn't been received.

      National Party Covid-19 response spokesman Chris Bishop was "surprised" by the decision.

      "The rules are there for a reason," Bishop told the Herald on Monday.

      Advertisement
      Advertise with NZME.

      "Ultimately, it's a decision for the officials to make," he added. "But I think people will raise their eyebrows at that one. If rules aren't enforced, why should people follow them?"

      Bishop said the entire situation has got on people's nerves - not just the decision whether or not to prosecute.

      "People, I've found, are pretty fired up by the fact this guy has been here three times in the past 12 months," he said of the performer. "It seems easier to enter New Zealand as a DJ than as an ICU nurse."

      During a press conference on Thursday, Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said he was disappointed with the performer for not following the rules but he declined to say whether he should be prosecuted. The performer has already received a punishment of sorts in the court of public opinion, he suggested.

      On Sunday, 2990 vaccines were administered - 2220 of them were booster shots and another 13 were third primary doses.

      Just 135 were first doses and 622 were second doses.

      Advertisement
      Advertise with NZME.
      The drive-through vaccination centre near Auckland Airport has reopened to give more capacity as more people become eligible for their boosters. Photo / Alex Burton
      The drive-through vaccination centre near Auckland Airport has reopened to give more capacity as more people become eligible for their boosters. Photo / Alex Burton

      From tomorrow, the number of booster shots was likely to jump as that's the day when the interval between second doses and boosters will drop to four months.

      Anyone aged 18 and over who had their second dose at least four months ago can get a booster dose.

      In Auckland, the Airport Park and Ride drive-through vaccination centre has reopened, which will add "significant surge capacity" for vaccination efforts.

      The drive-through is located at 42 Verissimo Drive, Māngere, and operates from 10am-5pm with no appointment needed. It can vaccinate more than 4000 people per day.

      Covid
      Save

        Share this article

      Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

      Rotorua Daily Post

      Cops claim Kiri Allan told police she wrote the law, grabbed shrubs during arrest

      08 Jul 09:03 PM
      Rotorua Daily Post

      'Brazen' gang attack: Mongrel Mob members avoid jail

      08 Jul 04:31 AM
      Rotorua Daily Post

      BoP shooting happened at 'private dwelling', suspect still wanted

      08 Jul 01:36 AM

      From early mornings to easy living

      sponsored
      Advertisement
      Advertise with NZME.
      Recommended for you
      TSA ends shoe removal rule at some airports, expands nationwide
      World

      TSA ends shoe removal rule at some airports, expands nationwide

      08 Jul 09:27 PM
      Ute flips onto beach in Hawke's Bay, one in custody
      Hawkes Bay Today

      Ute flips onto beach in Hawke's Bay, one in custody

      08 Jul 09:15 PM
      RecipeTin Eats' Nagi Maehashi breaks silence on mushroom murders
      World

      RecipeTin Eats' Nagi Maehashi breaks silence on mushroom murders

      08 Jul 09:13 PM
      'World-leading': New study addresses concussion risks for female athletes
      Olympics

      'World-leading': New study addresses concussion risks for female athletes

      08 Jul 09:12 PM
      Mushroom killer’s cell complaint during murder trial
      World

      Mushroom killer’s cell complaint during murder trial

      08 Jul 09:09 PM

      Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

      Cops claim Kiri Allan told police she wrote the law, grabbed shrubs during arrest

      Cops claim Kiri Allan told police she wrote the law, grabbed shrubs during arrest

      08 Jul 09:03 PM

      New police documents claim Allan refused to accept the court summons served on her.

      'Brazen' gang attack: Mongrel Mob members avoid jail

      'Brazen' gang attack: Mongrel Mob members avoid jail

      08 Jul 04:31 AM
      BoP shooting happened at 'private dwelling', suspect still wanted

      BoP shooting happened at 'private dwelling', suspect still wanted

      08 Jul 01:36 AM
      21yo defends wounding charge after alleged hit-and-run at night market

      21yo defends wounding charge after alleged hit-and-run at night market

      08 Jul 12:05 AM
      Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
      sponsored

      Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

      NZ Herald
      • About NZ Herald
      • Meet the journalists
      • Newsletters
      • Classifieds
      • Help & support
      • Contact us
      • House rules
      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms of use
      • Competition terms & conditions
      • Our use of AI
      Subscriber Services
      • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
      • Manage your print subscription
      • Manage your digital subscription
      • Subscribe to Herald Premium
      • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
      • Gift a subscription
      • Subscriber FAQs
      • Subscription terms & conditions
      • Promotions and subscriber benefits
      NZME Network
      • Rotorua Daily Post
      • The New Zealand Herald
      • The Northland Age
      • The Northern Advocate
      • Waikato Herald
      • Bay of Plenty Times
      • Hawke's Bay Today
      • Whanganui Chronicle
      • Viva
      • NZ Listener
      • Newstalk ZB
      • BusinessDesk
      • OneRoof
      • Driven Car Guide
      • iHeart Radio
      • Restaurant Hub
      NZME
      • About NZME
      • NZME careers
      • Advertise with NZME
      • Digital self-service advertising
      • Book your classified ad
      • Photo sales
      • NZME Events
      • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
      All Access. All in one subscription. From $2 per week
      Subscribe now

      All Access Weekly

      From $2 per week
      Pay just
      $15.75
      $2
      per week ongoing
      Subscribe now
      BEST VALUE

      All Access Annual

      Pay just
      $449
      $49
      per year ongoing
      Subscribe now
      Learn more
      30
      TOP
      search by queryly Advanced Search