There are 13 new cases of Covid-19 in Bay of Plenty and three in the Lakes District Health Board region today.
Two of the Lakes cases are in Rotorua, including a Rotorua-based MIQ worker, and one is in Taupō. Twelve of the BOP cases are in Tauranga and one case is in the Western Bay of Plenty District.
A Rotorua-based MIQ worker tested positive on Wednesday and is currently in isolation. It is currently being investigated to determine if this infection originated from either the community or the facility.
The Ministry of Health says the worker is fully vaccinated and up-to-date with regular testing. The nature of their work means they do not normally have direct contact with returnees. The result from whole genome sequencing is expected later today, the ministry said.
Two of the Lakes cases are contacts of previously notified cases and the source for one case is being investigated.
Nine of the BOP cases are contacts of previously notified cases, and the source for the other four cases is being investigated.
The ministry encourages anyone who lives in, or has visited, the Bay of Plenty and Lakes district, particularly in Rotorua, with symptoms – no matter how mild – to get tested, even if you're vaccinated and to please stay at home until you return a negative test result.
It also asking anyone in the region who is yet to be vaccinated to please do so now.
There are 35 cases in New Zealand today with 37 in hospital and three in ICU.
There are five people in Tauranga Hospital with Covid-19.
There are several new locations of interest for the region. Click here.
The Macau Bar Kitchen and Lounge on The Strand in Tauranga has been identified as a close contact.
Anyone who dined inside the restaurant on December 31 between 5.15pm and 7pm must self-isolate, test immediately and on day 5 after being exposed at this location of interest.
Further isolation and testing requirements will be provided by Public Health.
A Tauranga retirement village staff member who tested positive for Covid-19 has returned a negative PCR test.
The staff member at the Bob Owens Village care centre initially returned a positive rapid antigen test before showing up to work on Tuesday. The village is located in Bethlehem, Tauranga.
Ryman Healthcare chief operations officer Cheyne Chalmers said the staff member has been confirmed as having another virus following results from a PCR test.
The ministry has acknowledged that Omicron is now likely to be the most prevalent at the border.
University of Canterbury professor Michael Plank said it was imperative that New Zealand prepared for the possibility of a summer outbreak, urging everyone eligible for a booster vaccine to get one right away.
He said parents should be prepared to get children between the ages of 5 and 11 vaccinated as soon as they are eligible on January 17.
For many, yesterday's statistics would have initially seemed uplifting, with the community cases seeming to stay low as vaccination rates continue to rise and warm weather pushes people outdoors, where it's harder for the virus to get a foothold. But the rapidly increasing MIQ numbers tell a different story, experts say.
For most of last year, MIQ was seeing about two or three cases a day, compared to 43 new cases yesterday. If that trend continues, Plank said, Omicron could be circulating in the community "in 18 days rather than 180 days".
While it's impossible to know for certain whether it will be weeks or months, the recent MIQ numbers make it clear that "there's a very high risk at the moment", he said.