WELLINGTON, Aug 25 (NNN-XINHUA) — New Zealand reported 62 new community cases of Delta variant of COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing the total number of cases in the community outbreak to 210.
The total number of community cases in the country’s largest city Auckland is 198, and 12 are in the capital Wellington, Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield told a press conference.
Of these 62 new cases, 36 are female and 26 are male.
All of the cases have or are being transferred safely to a managed isolation facility, under strict infection prevention and control procedures, including the use of full PPE (personal protective equipment), he said.
“As previously indicated, it’s not unexpected to see a rise in daily case numbers at this stage. At its peak last year, New Zealand had a daily total of 89 new cases,” he added.
There are currently six epidemiologically-linked sub-clusters identified within this outbreak, Bloomfield said.
New Zealand will remain at the top level 4 national lockdown until midnight Friday, subject to another review on that day. The country has moved to a lockdown since midnight Aug. 17 after the first COVID-19 Delta variant case in the Auckland community was identified.
Under the Alert Level 4 lockdown, businesses and schools are closed except for essential ones such as supermarkets, pharmacies and service stations.
Meanwhile, New Zealand reported one new case in recent returnees who came from India, and has remained in a managed isolation and quarantine facility in Auckland, said a Ministry of Health statement.
The total number of active cases being managed in New Zealand is currently 246, and the number of confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic is 2,803, it said. — NNN-XINHUA
