New Zealand reported 27 new community cases on Saturday, bringing the total number of confirmed COVID-19 infections in the country’s community outbreak to 1,295.
Among the new cases, 14 are household contacts, eight are known contacts and five are under investigation to determine how they are linked to the current outbreak, according to the Ministry of Health.
Due to the highly infectious nature of the Delta variant within households, health ministry expects to see fluctuations in case numbers at this stage in the outbreak.
A total of 22,041 tests were taken on Friday, including more than 13,083 swabs taken in the Auckland region.
Auckland relaxed restrictions by moving to COVID-19 Alert Level 3 on Sept. 22 for at least two weeks.
The city was previously at Level 4, the top-level COVID-19 lockdown for more than 30 days, longer than last year’s lockdown, with schools and non-essential businesses closed.
Under Alert Level 3, construction work and takeaway services can resume with necessary safety measures in place, while most students are still encouraged to study at home.
The rest of the country stays at Alert Level 2, under which businesses and schools are back to normal, with mask-wearing being mandatory in certain settings and gatherings limited to 50 people in size.
The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in New Zealand since the start of the pandemic stands currently at 3,962, according to the Ministry of Health.—AFP
