Aucklanders should prepare to be under tough lockdown restrictions for longer than the originally planned Tuesday, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins says, indicating there will be more cases found in the community.
Speaking to TVNZ's Q+A on Sunday morning, Hipkins said he expects there will soon be different COVID-19 alert levels in Auckland compared with the rest of New Zealand.
Hipkins' comments echo those made by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern earlier this week, who suggested a lockdown extension for Auckland is looking likely.
New Zealand will remain in a national lockdown until at least Tuesday, with restrictions to be reviewed by Cabinet on Monday.
"If I was in Auckland, I would certainly be preparing to be at home for a bit longer," Hipkins told Q+A.
"We do expect that there will be more cases today.
"Delta does raise some big questions that we're going to have to grapple with… that does change everything. It does mean all of our existing protections start to look less adequate and less robust as a result of that, so we're looking very closely at what we can do there."
Disease modellers have suggested New Zealand's COVID-19 case numbers could hit the 100 mark in the coming days. Speaking to reporters on Sunday morning, Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said it's vital people stick to alert level 4 guidelines.
"There are people who are popping into the pharmacy or the supermarket on their way home from a test," Dr Bloomfield said. "If you need a test you go out, you have that and then self-isolate at home - [you] even isolate from the people within your bubble. That's very important until you get that test result back."
A further 21 cases of COVID-19 were reported on Saturday, bringing the outbreak total to 51. Forty-five of the infections have been detected in Auckland, and six in Wellington.
