There are seven new cases of COVID-19 in Auckland, six of which were detected in the community.
Three new cases are associated with the Mt Roskill Evangelical Fellowship, bringing the "mini cluster" to eight. Three of these cases have now been epidemiologically linked to the Auckland outbreak, however the remaining five are still under investigation. All eight cases have been linked to each other via genome sequencing.
Health Minister Chris Hipkins has outlined the rules for masks, which become mandatory on public transport as of Monday.
What you need to know:
- Seven new cases were announced on Thursday: six are in the community and one is imported
- The imported case is a woman in her 20s, who arrived from Turkey via London and Hong Kong
- One of Thursday's cases is a Mt Albert Grammar student, who has not been at school since August 12
- Eight cases are now connected to the Mt Roskill church: three have been linked to the Auckland cluster
- Ten people are receiving hospital-level care: two are in the ICU
- Fifteen people have recovered, bringing the active case total to 126
- Face coverings will be mandatory on public transport - planes, trains, buses and ferries - from Monday (see 1:40pm for guidelines)
- NZ COVID Tracer QR codes will be mandatory on public transport from September 3.
Follow Newshub's live updates here:
These live updates have finished.
6:20pm - Here are Thursday's case numbers in graph form.
Seven new cases were announced on Thursday and fifteen further people over the past 24 hours have been reclassified as 'recovered'. There are currently 126 active cases.
6pm - It's time for Newshub Live at 6pm. Watch online here or tune in on Three.
5:45pm - Here's a late-afternoon recap of Thursday's case numbers in New Zealand. Seven cases were announced - six in the community and one imported. Click the tweet to read the entire thread.
5:15pm - The World Health Organization has released its Thursday figures for the Western Pacific Region, of which New Zealand is a part of.
Out of the 22 countries listed, there are 13 nations in the region that have reported fewer overall cases than New Zealand.
The Philippines has reported the most cases in the region (202,361) and Laos has announced the least (22).
4:55pm - The New Zealand Public Party has been blasted after uploading a video falsely claiming the Government had passed a law allowing it to "force" citizens to get a COVID-19 vaccine.
Key parts of MPs' speeches were cut out to doctor the meaning of what they were saying in the video, which was uploaded to the party's Facebook page.
In the opening seconds of the video, ominous music plays as subtitles flash up with the incorrect claim.
"Labour passed a law change… They gave themselves the power… To force citizens to be vaccinated."
Andrew Geddis, a professor of law at Otago University, told AFP the Government cannot - even under the COVID-19 Public Health Act - force anyone to be vaccinated as it would go against the New Zealand Bill of Rights.
4:35pm - Microbiologist Siouxsie Wiles says she's "concerned" over Auckland's "mini cluster" that was found at the Mt Roskill church.
"My concern is that if we can't find the link, that suggests there might be some other transmission chains and the question is whether we stopped those or whether once we move down to level 2 they'll continue. That's why all the testing that's happening at the moment is really, really important," she told RNZ.
"The more sort of loose ends we see, the more concerned I am about moving out of level 3 here in Auckland."
She added that ensuring there wasn't any further community transmission was key to moving down alert levels.
3:55pm - Over in Australia, Victoria recorded 113 new cases and 23 further deaths. This is a drop in daily case numbers compared with previous days.
On Wednesday it saw 149 cases, and on Tuesday it recorded 148.
However, the 23 new deaths makes it the third deadliest for the state since the pandemic began. The second-highest daily death toll occured on Wednesday (24), and the highest was on August 17 (25).
3:20pm - During the press conference earlier on Thursday afternoon, Health Minister Chris Hipkins implied that the current "mini cluster" associated with the Mt Roskill Evangelical Fellowship wouldn't stop Auckland moving to alert level 2 on Sunday night.
There are now eight cases connected to the church. Just three have been epidemiologically linked to the Auckland cluster via genome sequencing. The remainder are still under investigation.
When asked by a reporter if Auckland would remain in level 3 if the other cases could not be linked to the existing outbreak, Hipkins remained evasive - but implied it wouldn't stop the transition down the alert levels.
"We did run through all this when we made the decision around the right timing to move down the alert levels. We did make that decision conscious of the fact that we may still be seeing positive cases," he said. "The key piece of information we are monitoring very closely is whether they are all still linked to the circle of contacts that we've been identifying - and at the moment they still are."
When a reporter asked if health officials had considered that the Mt Roskill cases may be stemming from an undetected chain of transmission - meaning more and more cases might be recorded - Hipkins said self-isolation of close contacts would negate any "extra concern".
"That's part of the reason why we ask all close contacts to self-isolate. As long as they are isolating, then if they subsequently show up as a positive [case], it doesn't create a lot of extra concern for us because we know they've been isolating," he said.
The director of public health for the Ministry of Health, Dr Caroline McElnay, reiterated that there is still a "very small amount of cases" that haven't been epidemiologically linked to the Auckland cluster.
"We don't need to necessarily be able to demonstrate that [epidemiological] link to be able to say the particular cluster is contained," she said. "Widespread testing in the Auckland area will allow us to detect any previously undetected cases. That's a part of the whole strategy."
2:50pm - The final report of the Contact Tracing Assurance Committee (CTAC), led by Sir Brian Roche, has recognised progress made on New Zealand's COVID-19 contact tracing systems.
The committee was tasked with reviewing progress against the recommendations of an earlier report.
"The report concludes that New Zealand is now in an increasingly strong position, with an improved contact tracing regime," Health Minister Chris Hipkins said in a statement on Thursday. "The teams are consistently performing around the benchmark of 80% of close contacts identified and contacted in 48 hours."
Another major recommendation was to encourage the role of technology to support contact tracing efforts.
"Since then, we have made it mandatory for businesses to display QR codes for the NZ COVID tracer app and seen a marked increase in people downloading the app. Public transport will follow next week and further upgrades of the app are planned early next month. Trials are also in train for a new Bluetooth COVID card and a smartphone-based Bluetooth function," Hipkins said.
"There are other important areas identified for improvement in the report, but they are beyond the scope of the contact tracing teams alone and are being considered separately. These are: clarity of accountabilities and decision rights, a fit for purpose project structure, a very active cross-Government approach, and a whole of system view.
"Overall, however, I am very encouraged by the way our contact tracing processes are working."
2:20pm - A 52-year-old businessman has pleaded guilty to escaping managed isolation in Hamilton to buy liquor.
Read more on that here.
2pm - A recap of Thursday's case updates:
- There are seven new confirmed cases of COVID-19: one is imported, six are in the community
- Five cases are household contacts of previously reported cases, and one is linked via their workplace
- All six community cases are epidemiologically linked to the Auckland cluster
- By Thursday morning, 2455 close contacts were identified: 2404 have been contacted and are self-isolating, the balance are being contacted
- There are 159 people linked to the cluster at Auckland's quarantine facility: 85 have tested positive
- Ten people are in hospital: two are in the ICU at Middlemore and North Shore Hospital
- Fifteen people are considered recovered
- The active case total stands at 126: 11 are imported
- The country's confirmed case total is now 1351
- Labs processed 9257 tests on Wednesday, bringing the total number of tests completed to date to 719,320.
1:40pm - Face masks on public transport will be mandatory from Monday. Here's a recap of the guidelines, outlined by Health Minister Chris Hipkins:
- Passengers travelling on planes, trains, buses and ferries will be required to wear a mask or covering
- Passengers travelling in taxis or rideshare vehicles (such as Ubers) are urged to wear a mask, but it is not compulsory. Drivers will be required to wear a mask
- Children under the age of 12 and people with disabilities are exempt from wearing masks
- Masks are not mandatory on school buses, charter buses, tour buses, private flights or Interislander ferries, as it can be safely assumed passengers will either be with people in their bubble or will have enough space to social distance
- Face masks do not have to be surgical and any covering or homemade alternative is acceptable. The Govt urges Kiwis to stock up on reusable masks or coverings that can be washed between each use
- Masks are not mandatory in private vehicles
- Not wearing a face covering on public transport is punishable by a $300 infringement notice or a fine of up to a $1000 imposed by the courts.
1:30pm - Hipkins has clarified that masks are not mandatory for taxi and rideshare passengers as the minor public health benefit would be offset by the downside for operators, and it would be difficult to enforce. Masks are still encouraged.
He also reiterated that QR codes linked to the NZ COVID Tracer app will be in taxis and rideshare vehicles, and people would not be travelling in a cab or Uber with anyone they don't know (aside from the driver, who are required to wear masks).
Addressing the Mt Roskill "mini cluster" again, Hipkins said the decision for Auckland to transition to level 2 at 11:59pm on Sunday, August 30, was made knowing there would likely still be cases emerging - and therefore the Mt Roskill cases will probably not see level 3 extended for a third time.
A key piece of information being monitored is whether the cases are linked to the circle of identified contacts - and at the moment they are. If all close contacts are isolating, it doesn't create additional concern, Hipkins said.
1:20pm - It could be another week to 10 days until numbers drop off, Hipkins said. Health officials are watching to see if any significant numbers of cases crop up outside of the existing cluster.
Hipkins reiterated Auckland does not need to hit zero cases before transitioning to level 2.
"We just need to be confident the cluster is reasonably well contained," he said.
Contacts of the "mini-cluster" in Mt Roskill have been isolated, he confirmed. McElnay says health officials are continuing to work to identify an epidemiological link to the main cluster.
"We would feel happier if we were able to show what the link is from a person-to-person perspective with the large cluster," McElnay said.
It's not yet clear how many people were at the church events and investigations are ongoing. However, all eight cases linked to the Mt Roskill Evangelical Fellowship are connected to each other, as aforementioned.
1:10pm - The Government is releasing three million extra masks, Hipkins said, as a one-off boost among iwi and social groups.
He has encouraging Kiwis to stock up on resuable masks or coverings so they can be washed between uses.
He acknowledged the findings of the final report by the Contact Tracing Assurance Committee, led by Sir Brian Roche, which concluded that New Zealand is an increasingly strong position in regards to contact tracing. Around 80 percent of close contacts are being identified and contacted within 48 hours.
One recommendation in the report was around the use of technology - since then the NZ COVID Tracer App has been improved and QR codes have been made mandatory, including on public transport. A trial is underway regarding new Bluetooth technology, including with the COVID-19 card.
"I am very encouraged by the way our contact tracing processes are working," Hipkins said, noting the "culture of continual improvement" will be ongoing.
The minister said he is not nervous about the higher numbers of cases, as all cases are within the identified contacts.
1:05pm - Hipkins has reiterated calls for people who attended church services at the Mt Roskill Evangelical Fellowship on August 8, 9 and 11, as well as a wedding on August 7, to get tested. They should also remain alert for symptoms of the virus.
On Monday, the Prime Minister announced that face coverings will become mandatory on public transport from alert level 2. Hipkins said he will sign an official order this afternoon.
Therefore from Monday, masks will be mandatory on public transport and aircrafts, including trains, buses and ferries. Masks are not required on school buses, charter buses, group tours, InterIsland ferries or private flights. Hipkins said these passengers are likely to either be in each other's bubbles or will have the space to physically distance.
Hipkins said masks are not required for passengers travelling in taxis or Ubers, but drivers will have to wear masks.
Those under 12 are exempt, as well as those with disabilities.
New Zealanders could be fined up to $300 for breaching the rules, or a court-imposed fine of up to $1000.
"People should respect drivers. Drivers aren't obliged to refuse entry, but they can ask passengers to wear a mask," Hipkins said.
1pm - There are seven new cases of COVID-19, six of which are in the community.
One case is imported, a woman in her 20s who arrived from from Turkey via London and Hong Kong. She has been staying at the Sudima and tested positive on day three of her stay.
All six community cases are epidemiologically linked to the Auckland cluster. Five are household contacts, and one is linked to a case via a workplace.
One new case is student at Mt Albert Grammar, but the student has not been at school since August 12.
There are now eight cases linked to the Mt Roskill Evangelical Fellowship church, three of which have been epidemiologically linked to the Auckland cluster via genomic sequencing. The remaining five have yet to be linked. However, all eight cases are epidemiologically linked to each other.
Contact tracing has identified 2455 close contacts overall, of which 2404 have been contacted and are isolating.
There are 159 people linked to the cluster at Auckland's quarantine facility, including 85 who have tested positive and their household contacts.
Ten people are in hospital - two patients are in Auckland City Hospital, four are in Middlemore, three are in North Shore Hospital and one is in Waikato Hospital. Two are in the ICU.
Fifteen people have recovered, taking the active case total to 126, of which 11 are imported.
There are now 1351 confirmed cases in total.
On Wednesday, 9257 tests were processed, taking the total of completed tests to date to 719,320.
12:55pm - Minister of Health Chris Hipkins and director of public health Caroline McElnay will give an update on New Zealand's latest COVID-19 cases.
Watch the press conference here, above or live on Three.
12pm - Finance Minister Grant Robertson says the Government would have considered extending the wage subsidy scheme if Auckland's level 3 restrictions had been prolonged for a longer period.
It follows National's call to extend the latest wage subsidy scheme to cover the extra four days of level 3 lockdown, after the restrictions were extended from Wednesday, August 26 to Sunday, August 30. The new wage subsidy was implemented to help Auckland's businesses under level 3 - but it only covered the initial two weeks.
Speaking to Magic Talk's Peter Williams on Thursday, Robertson confirmed that officials are working on developing a scheme that is more "flexible and sustainable", allowing for possible fluctuations between alert levels.
"I made this clear when we made the two-week announcement last week... had the level 3 restrictions been kept in place for a longer period - another fortnight or so or more - then we would've extended it," he told Williams.
"That's what we've committed to and I don’t think we would want to change that. Clearly, if we ever - God forbid - ended up in level 4, obviously it would kick in there.
"What I also said last week was that I have asked officials to work on something that's a bit more flexible and sustainable as we move up and down alert levels, if that's what occurs... But yes, if we ever did move back up into level 3 for an extended period, we would continue the wage subsidy and we said that last week."
On Monday, Ardern argued that extending the wage subsidy was too complex, saying: "It is not a simple exercise to simply tack-on additional - it would require an entirely different process and regime. Our focus is on getting the money out the door quickly for everyone who's already applied."
Read more on last week's wage subsidy announcement here.
11:35am - Auckland Mayor Phil Goff has shared how to make a simple face covering - using just a sock and scissors - ahead of masks becoming mandatory on public transport on Monday.
11:30am - Jury trials scheduled to start in the week of August 31 in the Auckland District Court and Manukau District Court will not proceed, according to a statement by the Chief Justice of New Zealand, the Right Honourable Dame Helen Winkelmann, on Thursday.
Jurors summoned to attend at these courts for that week are excused attendance. No jury trials are scheduled for the Auckland High Court next week. The Chief Justice confirmed that all trials scheduled to be heard in the rest of the country - under alert level 2 - will continue as scheduled.
Jurors summoned to attend, or who are currently serving on trials outside Auckland, are requested to attend as per their summons document or any instruction from court registry staff.
A week's delay in the commencement of Auckland jury trials will allow counsel, who are only able to return to their offices on Monday, to better prepare for trial, says the statement.
The decision whether to recommence jury trials in the Auckland District Court, Manukau District Court and Auckland High Court from Monday, September 7 will be finalised on September 3.
11:05am - Finance Minister Grant Robertson says the Government is "actively discussing" the idea of allowing airlines to fill domestic flights without allocating spare seats for social distancing, as passengers will be wearing masks.
Speaking to Magic Talk on Thursday, host Peter Williams asked Robertson if the Government is considering epidemiologist Michael Baker's claim that planes could be filled without the need for social distancing when masks become mandatory.
"That's an active discussion that’s underway. Michael is someone [whose views we] respect... it is an active discussion on how we make sure that Air New Zealand can fly safely and effectively and efficiently," Robertson said.
"As you know, we are mandating masks on planes and on public transport from next week and so that puts that conversation back into the frame. Those details around how that [was] finalised will come about as a result of the advice we get from health experts and the conversations we have with Air New Zealand.
"They were able to operate under level 2 conditions previously, obviously it's easier to operate under level 1. We'll take the full suite of expert advice on this."
It follows the news this morning that Air New Zealand has posted a net tax loss of $454 million, down from last year's profit of $270 million.
10:45am - On Thursday, the Government announced further investment into COVID-19 vaccine research and manufacturing as part of ongoing efforts to secure a vaccine for New Zealand.
The Malaghan Institute of Medical Research, University of Otago and Victoria University will help lead these efforts as part of the Vaccine Alliance Aotearoa New Zealand, tasked with establishing a national COVID-19 vaccine evaluation platform and developing new vaccine candidates.
Speaking to the SMC, Otago University microbiologist Professor David Murdoch said "a lot of activity" has been happening in New Zealand's "COVID-19 vaccine space". On Thursday, the Government also revealed that hundreds of millions of dollars have been set aside to access a vaccine as soon as it becomes available.
The COVID-19 Vaccine Strategy - which compromises both major investment in global collaborative efforts and funding to support local research and vaccine manufacturing - is "sensible", according to Prof Murdoch.
"The world has never been in this situation before, with all countries eager to obtain a yet to be developed vaccine in quantities sufficient to cover their whole population," he said.
"Innovative approaches are needed to ensure global equity in access to all new COVID-19 vaccines and to help minimise the adverse consequences of vaccine nationalism."
10:25am - Here's a recap of the New Zealand's current COVID-19 case numbers. The latest updates will be provided at the 1pm briefing.
Five cases traced to the Mt Roskill Evangelical Fellowship have not yet been epidemiologically linked to the Auckland cluster, but Dr Bloomfield is confident a connection will be found through genome sequencing. Anyone who attended church services on August 8, 9 and 11, or a wedding on August 7, are urged to get tested.
Microbiologist Dr Siouxsie Wiles has expressed concerns that if a link isn't established, the cases could indicate another chain of transmission is active in the community. She has suggested that Auckland's move to alert level 2 on Sunday could be premature as cases continue to crop up.
According to the Ministry of Health's information on the current cases, two of the three community cases recorded on Wednesday were a man and woman aged in their 40s. The third was a boy aged 10 to 14.
10:05am - Hundreds of millions of dollars have been set aside by the Government to secure a COVID-19 vaccine for New Zealand when it becomes available, but the exact amount cannot be disclosed due to commercial sensitivity.
The funding is in addition to the $37 million COVID-19 vaccine strategy announced in May. The money will be taken from the $50 billion COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund, but is not part of the $14 billion kept in reserve.
"I've been talking to a range of world leaders about global vaccine development, including Angela Merkel, Justin Trudeau and Scott Morrison," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Thursday.
"We are working particularly closely with Australia to ensure we are connected to all parts of vaccine development, distribution and use, as well as our Pacific neighbours to elevate their voices."
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison recently signed a deal with UK drug manufacturer AstraZeneca to secure a potential vaccine developed by an Oxford University group, regarded as a frontrunner in the global race to deliver an effective inoculation against COVID-19. He said there are plans to have the vaccine manufactured locally and distributed to 25 million Australians, free of charge.
It appears Ardern will be following in Australia's footsteps.
Read the full report here.
9:45am - The accepted physical distancing guideline suggesting people stay one to two metres apart when outside their bubble is outdated, and does little on its own to stop the spread of COVID-19, according to UK scientists.
The experts also say there's no significant evidence to back up the guideline that anyone who has spent at least 15 minutes near a confirmed case can be considered a close contact, a guideline which is followed by New Zealand's Ministry of Health.
Nicholas Jones, a clinical researcher at the University of Oxford, says the 1-2m rule dates back to research done in the late 19th century, but newer studies have found droplets can spread much further - even from people just breathing and speaking.
"Breathing out, singing, coughing, and sneezing generate warm, moist, high momentum gas clouds of exhaled air containing respiratory droplets," he and others wrote in a new analysis for the British Medical Journal.
"This moves the droplets faster than typical background air ventilation flows, keeps them concentrated, and can extend their range up to 7-8 m within a few seconds."
Read the full report here.
9:15am - University of Auckland microbiologist and leading infectious diseases expert, Dr Siouxsie Wiles, has expressed concerns about Auckland moving out of level 3 on Sunday.
Speaking to RNZ's Morning Report, Dr Wiles said the more cases that crop up, the more concerned she is about the prospect of transitioning to level 2.
"The more loose ends we see, the more concerned I am about moving out of level 3 here in Auckland," she told Morning Report.
Three new cases of COVID-19 were recorded in the community on Wednesday, while five cases - all connected to Mt Roskill Evangelical Fellowship - have yet to be epidemiologically linked to the existing Auckland cluster.
"My concern is that if we can't find the link, that suggests there might be some other transmission chains - and the question is whether we've stopped those, or whether once we move down to level 2 they'll continue."
Dr Wiles says if Auckland moves out of alert level 3 too quickly, the city could see a significant spike in case numbers. The virus has an incubation period of 14 days, meaning it can take up to two weeks before a person who has been exposed to COVID-19 becomes symptomatic. This delay in presenting symptoms means infected individuals could be passing the virus to others without realising they are sick.
Dr Wiles noted that if other transmission chains are going undetected in the community, health officials may not find another outbreak until two weeks after transitioning to alert level 2 - a level that permits far more freedom, as well as inter-regional travel.
"If there is transmission still happening and we move to level 2, then at level 2 much more transmission can happen. We'll see more cases rising but we won't see them maybe for a week or two."
8:50am - Air New Zealand has released its financial results for 2020, revealing just how hard the airline has been hit by COVID-19 and its restrictions.
New Zealand's national carrier has reported a loss before taxation of $87 million for the 2020 financial year, compared to earnings of $387 million in the previous year.
Read more on this breaking news here.
8:15am - The Prime Minister will be visiting the Malaghan Institute of Medical Research at Victoria University on Thursday to discuss progress being made in New Zealand's COVID-19 vaccine strategy.
The strategy, which was launched a few months ago, will work to ensure there is equitable access to the vaccine when one is successfully produced and available in New Zealand. The strategy will also ensure both New Zealand and the Pacific will be supported in "the development and manufacturing of a future vaccine", Ardern said.
The Prime Minister said she will provide an update on the strategy or some insight into the work going on at the Malaghan Institute later today.
The Institute is currently working at multiple levels to develop a COVID-19 vaccine for New Zealand.
8:05am - Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has shared a video "checking in" with her 1.4 million Instagram followers, providing a "few details on the day" to keep people up-to-date.
7:50am - Otago University's infectious diseases expert, David Murdoch, has reiterated that genome sequencing will reveal if Mt Roskill's "mini cluster" is linked to Auckland's existing outbreak.
Speaking to Newstalk ZB on Thursday morning, Murdoch said we will have to "wait and see" whether scientists can find an epidemiological link between the five Mt Roskill cases and the Auckland cluster.
He said genome sequencing is a "very powerful tool being deployed in close to real time".
Five cases of COVID-19 have been linked to Mt Roskill Evangelical Fellowship church on Stoddard Rd. People who attended a wedding at the church on August 7, or services on August 8, 9 and 11, are being asked to get tested as a precaution and remain alert for possible symptoms.
The cases have not yet been epidemiologically connected to the Auckland outbreak, with Dr Bloomfield referring to them as a "mini-cluster" on Wednesday. However, he expressed confidence that a link will be found.
7:30am - The latest mandate requiring QR codes to become compulsory on public transport services means increased isolation for New Zealand's elderly community, says Housing Lobby spokesperson Sue Henry.
On Wednesday, Health Minister Chris Hipkins announced that alongside the use of masks or face coverings, QR codes linked to the NZ COVID Tracer app would become mandatory on most forms of public transport, across all alert levels of the COVID-19 response.
From 11:59pm on Thursday, September 3, all bus, train, ferry, ride-share vehicles and taxi operators will need to have a QR code poster, to help provide an "extra layer of assurance and speed to the [Government’s] contact tracing efforts", according to Hipkins.
Henry doesn't believe Hipkins considered that a significant percentage of the elderly don't own a smartphone.
"A lot of them have been extremely worried or upset. A lot of them have no smartphones, let alone cellphones, and for them that means more isolation," Henry told Newshub. "I don't think Minister Hipkins has actually taken this into account - this is going to have a very adverse effect on an awful lot of senior citizens in this country.
"They're horrified that once again, they're being cut out of the team of five million. They don't have the technology to do what ministers are expecting people to do."
However, Hipkins confirmed on Wednesday that while public transport users are urged and expected to scan the QR code, there will be no enforcement.
6:45am - Here's a look at New Zealand's epidemic curve as of Thursday.
6:30am - The New Zealand Police are working with creatives on some important COVID-19 messages.
6:10am - Here's a quick look at how New Zealand's COVID-19 situation stands at the moment.
Of the 134 active cases, 21 are imported and 113 were detected in the community.
The majority of the community cases are linked to the main south Auckland cluster.
There are nine people in hospital as a result of their COVID-19 illness, of which three are intensive care. An additional COVID-19 case in Waikato Hospital isn't there as a result of having the virus.
6am - It's time for The AM Show. Hosts Duncan Garner, Mark Richardson and Amanda Gillies will have the latest on the COVID-19 outbreak. You can stream that on Newshub.co.nz or watch on Three.
5:45am - People who attended the following events at the Mt Roskill Evangelical Fellowship church should get tested:
- Services held at the church in Stoddard Road on August 8, 9 or 11
- A wedding held at the church on Friday, August 7.
"Anyone who attended these events and who is currently unwell, or has experienced any signs of COVID-19 in the past two weeks, should contact Healthline on 0800 358 5453 and let them know that you attended one of these events. They will provide further advice."
5:40am - There's concern in the Auckland community of Mt Roskill after five cases, all associated with the Mt Roskill Evangelical Fellowship church, were recently detected. These cases are not yet linked to the wider south Auckland cluster.
On Wednesday, Dr Ashley Bloomfield said he expects a link will be found, but anyone who visited events there earlier in August should get tested and isolate.
Ed Karlsen, a senior pastor at the nearby Mt Roskill Baptist Church, told Newshub he was both disappointed and concerned.
He is advising his congregation to remain aware of any symptoms, wear masks and get tested if necessary.
"I think our congregation will be really good in terms of adhering to what the Government regulations are put on us and going to get tested," he said.
"But there's obviously concern because this is our community. We have schools, lots of other churches. We are thinking of going just down to the shopping mall, what that's going to be like?
"There definitely will be higher anxiety amongst, not only our congregation members, but amongst other church members and other community groups around."
He hopes members of his congregation attend pop-up testing sites if they become unwell.
Karlsen said churches in the area had members from different ethnic groups and all were close-knit, often greeting each other with hugs.
"Of course, that doesn't bode well for the virus."
All services and meetings are currently being held online, and Karlsen says the congregation is rallying together through a tough time. But he says nothing beats joining as a crowd in a church.
