WELLINGTON, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand reported 11 new community cases of the Delta variant of COVID-19 on Friday, all in the largest city Auckland, bringing the total number of cases in the country's community outbreak to 879.

Of the current community cases, 27 cases are in hospital, including four cases in intensive care units (ICUs) or high dependency units (HDUs), Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield told a press conference.

Auckland has 862 community cases and the capital Wellington has 17 cases, Bloomfield said.

There are 850 cases that have been clearly epidemiologically-linked to another case or sub-cluster, and a further 29 for which links are yet to be fully established, he said.

New Zealand also reported six new cases in recent returnees and they have remained in managed isolation and quarantine facilities in Auckland, Bloomfield said.

The total number of confirmed cases in New Zealand since the start of the pandemic is 3,510, according to the Ministry of Health.

Areas outside Auckland moved to Alert Level 2 from 11:59 p.m. local time Tuesday, which means businesses and schools are back to normal, with masks mandatory in certain settings and gatherings limited to 50 people in size.

Auckland will remain at Level 4 for at least another week. New Zealand moved to a lockdown on Aug. 17 after the first COVID-19 Delta variant case in the Auckland community was identified. Enditem

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)