Source: Covid-19 New Zealand Government Announcements
Update from the Ministry of Health
The further increase in cases today is not unexpected given the ongoing spread of Omicron and wider testing achieved from the combined use of Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) and PCR.
These case numbers and hospitalisations are another reminder that vaccination is our best defence against the virus.
There is growing evidence that three doses of Pfizer is protective against Omicron.
We are strongly encouraging people to get a booster dose if it has been more than 3 months since their second dose.
There were 25,461 booster doses administered yesterday and, overall, around 68.8% of the eligible population have received a booster dose.
As always, anyone with any cold or flu symptoms that could be COVID-19 is asked to get a test and isolate at home until a negative result is returned and they are feeling well. Regardless of your test result, it is still important that anyone who is unwell stays home to reduce the spread of other viruses.
The most common early symptom of the Omicron variant is a cough, followed by a sore throat and/or runny nose.
If you need advice on managing your symptoms, or whether you should seek care, Healthline is the first port of call (0800 358 5453).
Rapid antigen testing
As the Omicron outbreak grows, RATs are now used as the primary test at all community testing centres.
The Omicron public health response is now in Phase 3 and operating on a more devolved model to ensure health resources are focused on those who need it most.
It is very important to the overall response that people self-report positive results for RATs through My Covid Record (external link), so we understand the size of the outbreak.
We’d like to thank the thousands of people who have been tested and already self-reported positive RAT results.
We are anticipating continued high demand for COVID-19 testing across the motu.
Although there are still significant global supply constraints, we have secured the delivery of enough RATs to help New Zealand through a widespread Omicron outbreak in the coming months.
Over the past two days, 5.2 million RATs arrived in the country. Another 10 million will arrive over the weekend, bringing our total supply to more than 22 million by Monday.
These tests are being shipped to community testing centres, GPs, and pharmacies across New Zealand. Critical services and businesses who need them as part of the Close Contact Exemption Scheme can also access them.
People who use a RAT will get their results within 20 minutes, which will help identify cases sooner, reduce testing wait times and minimise disruption to business and ensure critical services and infrastructure workforce can continue operating.
