Today 49 new community cases of Covid-19 were reported in New Zealand by Health director-general Dr Ashley Bloomfield in today's 1pm address to the nation.
This is the second daily decline in new case numbers. Yesterday there were f 53 confirmed cases.
The total number of active cases being managed in New Zealand is 651.
There is also one new case in recent returnees in managed isolation.
Of the current Auckland outbreak, there are six infants under the age of one, Bloomfield says.
The total number of community cases in Auckland is now 597 and in Wellington, it is 15.
Breaking transmission
Some 566 cases have been clearly epidemiologically linked to another case or sub-cluster, and a further 46 for which links are yet to be established.
Bloomfield says there are seven epidemiologically linked subclusters identified within this outbreak. The two largest clusters are the Mangere church cluster (308 confirmed cases), and the Birkdale Social Network cluster associated with Case A (78 confirmed cases).
Of the community cases, 33 are in hospital – 25 are in a stable condition on wards and eight cases are in a stable condition in ICU, with two on ventilation.
Two cases are in North Shore Hospital, 18 are in Middlemore Hospital, 12 are in Auckland City Hospital, and one is in Wellington Regional Hospital.
Dr Bloomfield says, based on modelling, the reproduction rate of the virus of the current outbreak "looks as ifit is remaining under one, which means cases will continue to decline, and we are successfully breaking chains of transmission."
Additional locations of interest continue to be identified. As of 9am today, there were 389 locations of interest.
Security guard at Middlemore
A contract security officer on duty at Middlemore Hospital on August 26 has tested positive for Covid-19 after exposure in the community.
This person was fully vaccinated and while on duty at Middlemore was wearing full PPE, including an N95 mask.
The risk of exposure to patients and staff is considered low. To date, no staff at Counties Manukau Health have contracted Covid-19 while at work.