default-output-block.skip-main
Regional | Covid Response Strategies

Northern Northland moves to Alert level 3 tonight

Northern Northland will move into Alert Level 3 at 11.59pm tonight to midnight on Monday because of two Covid-19 cases that cannot be linked so far to any existing cases.

In a hastily called press conference Covid Response Minister Chris Minister said the two cases in the same household at Taipa are not epidemiologically linked to the other 11 Northland cases. "It is unclear how they picked it up," he said.

Neither has been out of the northern Northland area around Kaitaia and one had used the Covid app extensively.

That meant one or both had been infected by someone coming to the area or possibly someone infecting another person who passed it on.

Most of the previous northern cases were around Omapere.

Because the cases have not been connected to the other Northland cases, a boundary will be drawn from the middle of the Hokianga Harbour to the Mangamuka Junction through to Kaeo with Alert Level 3 north of there and Alert level 2 in lower Northland. The boundary would be policed.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was in the lower part of Northland today to encourage vaccinations but  Hipkins says she did not come into contact with Covid cases or people from the northern area. He said there was no need for her to isolate herself.

17,120 doses short

Hipkins says the prime minister was not aware that a public health alert was being considered by officials. He says he was told mid-afternoon on his day off and Associate Health Minister Ayesha Verrall had been briefed at 4pm. He denied that the border had been decided on to ensure it did not include where the Prime Minister was today.

Hipkins said it was a reminder to those in other areas of the need to get vaccinated rather than assume it would be contained to Auckland.

Fewer than half of Hokianga and Kaitaia have had two doses of the Pfizer vaccine.

Hipkins said it could be some time" before Northland reached the 90 per cent double dose rate.

He said at 79 per cent on first doses, it was the region that had the most doses still to go to get to 90 per cent.

Northland was still 17,120 doses short of reaching the 90 per cent target.

Hipkins said if Northland was sitting at 89 per cent "we might be having a different conversation."

He said parts of Northland were also more vulnerable, and there was more reliance on septic tanks which made other forms of surveillance, such as wastewater testing, less effective.