There are no new cases of COVID-19 in New Zealand's managed isolation and quarantine facilities, Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield announced on Tuesday.
It has been 95 days since the last case of COVID-19 was acquired locally from an unknown source, indicating there is no evidence of community transmission in New Zealand.
The confirmed case total remains at 1217. Five recorded cases are now considered recovered, bringing the country's active case total down to 22. None of these patients are receiving hospital-level care for the virus.
Laboratories completed 1608 tests on Monday. Of these, 383 swabs were taken from new arrivals staying in managed isolation and quarantine facilities, meaning the vast majority were taken in the community or from staff working at the border or isolation facilities.
On Tuesday morning, the World Health Organization's Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom, emphasised there is currently no silver bullet for COVID-19 despite a number of vaccines going through clinical trials.
"The message from the WHO is very clear - stopping outbreaks of this virus comes down to public health basics and disease control," Dr Bloomfield reiterated.
Controlling the virus comes down to good testing rates among staff working at the border and out in the community, so health officials can remain confident there is no evidence of community transmission.
Although testing numbers in the community are increasing, the Ministry of Health still wants to see higher rates.
"Everyone who has COVID-related symptoms should be getting a test," the Health Minister Chris Hipkins said.
Community testing will be undertaken alongside specific surveillance testing, such as the pop-up clinic at the Pak 'n Save in Queenstown, which had more than 400 people through by midday on Tuesday.
The briefing also acknowledged research conducted by the All of Government team, the findings of which support the belief that many New Zealanders presenting symptoms of COVID-19 are not getting tested.
The survey of 800 New Zealanders, conducted in late July, found just under half of those with symptoms decided not to get tested - with 75 percent of those saying that they didn't think they had the virus.
The survey also showed that the majority of respondents (65 percent of adults and 80 percent of children) stayed home when they were sick until they had completely recovered.
Aged Residential Care (ARC) Action Plan
The Ministry of Health has released its Action Plan to address the recommendations outlined in the Independent Review of COVID-19 Clusters in Aged Residential Care (ARC) Facilities Report.
From experience both in New Zealand and internationally, health officials know the consequences can be deadly if COVID-19 finds a foothold in aged residential care facilities. Sixteen of New Zealand's 22 COVID-related deaths occurred in these settings.
In April, Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield commissioned an independent review into New Zealand's ARC facilities to understand where improvements could be made.
The review, published in June 2020, included a number of recommendations to strengthen New Zealand's response to COVID-19 within the aged care sector.
Specific actions in the plan, released on Tuesday, include:
- the development of a National Outbreak Management Policy
- the development of a Pandemic Management Workbook.
