As Auckland's outbreak of measles continues to worsen, health officials have been seeing 18 to 20 new cases per day in the past week.
Auckland Regional Public Health Service (ARPHS) Medical officer of health Dr William Rainger told media on Saturday there had been 778 cases of measles in the year to date. Most of those affected are children under five and young people aged 15-29.
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"The majority of these cases are in south Auckland, although we are still seeing cases in other parts of Auckland as well," he said.
"Forty percent of cases have been hospitalised in the year to date.
"That's a high proportion and some of these people have been very, very unwell however there have been no deaths as yet."
Dr Rainger says the public health response has been to limit the spread of the outbreak, protect the most vulnerable and promote the uptake of vaccinations.
Over 50 schools in the region have had measles this year and ARPHS is continuing to work with the Ministry of Education to help schools manage cases.
School nurses in south Auckland are being upskilled so a vaccination programme can be rolled out.
This programme will cover 25 nurses in 34 high schools as health official's battle to bring the outbreaks under control.
"Counties Manukau is planning very rapidly to have increased access to vaccine and that includes a range of different outreach services," Dr Nikki Turner from Immunisation Advisory Centre told Newshub on Friday.
"New Zealand is highly likely to lose its elimination status unless nationally we take a much stronger approach to vaccinating, particularly those who've missed out."
However, Dr Rainger says public gatherings don't need to be cancelled and people should go about their normal daily lives.
"Go about your business as usual," he said on Saturday.
"We have lost herd immunity. It's a large scale outbreak, not a crisis, certainly not an emergency."
Newshub.
