Community cases

RNZ Pacific reports there are 169 active cases in the community.

439 cases have been reported in total since March this year.

Photo file 

The Government confirmed this in a media release issued Friday.

Samoa first recorded its community positive case on 17 March and soon saw a rapid spread of the virus within the community.

More than 50 samples of positive cases were prepared and sent to New Zealand for genomic sequencing.

The results returned Thursday afternoon confirmed that it is the BA.1 sub lineage of the Omicron variant that is now in the community.

This sub lineage of the Omicron variant was common in many countries since the beginning of 2022.

The extension was announced by Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa yesterday.

There are 182 new community cases taking the total number of active community cases to 1,239.

Fiame said 97 percent of these cases are based in Upolu and three per cent.

There are no cases in the Intensive Care Unit.

“Most of the cases that were isolated in isolation wards at Motootua after developing mild symptoms have been discharged.”

Fiame also said that 70,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine are expected to arrive this afternoon.

Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa told the country in a virtual address last night that the new cases were picked up during contract tracing, initiated after the first case was confirmed on Thursday 17 March.

She did not give any details on the contact tracing but said that all positive cases are now in managed isolation in the special wards at the Tupua Tamasese Meaole hospital at Moto'otua.

Unlike the first level 3 nationwide lockdown two months ago, Fiame said there is some easing of restrictions.

It said there were also 373 cases in hospital and nine in ICU.

The new community cases today were in Northland (329), Auckland (12,530), Waikato (1,812), Bay of Plenty (1,185), Lakes (376), Hawke's Bay (168), MidCentral (260), Whanganui (45), Taranaki (165), Tairāwhiti (88), Wairarapa (42), Capital and Coast (691), Hutt Valley (355), Nelson Marlborough (196), Canterbury (740), South Canterbury (37), Southern (529), West Coast (17) and one case is unknown.

There were 22 cases identified at the border.

There was no media conference today. In a statement, the Ministry of Health said there are 84 people in hospital, including 10 in intensive care.

There were no new cases at the border.

The ministry said 81 of today's cases are yet to be linked. There are 713 unlinked cases from the past 14 days.

The 25 new cases in Waikato include 15 who are known close contacts from a single household in Hamilton, where an earlier case had been confirmed and is already in isolation.

Eighteen of the 25 new cases have been linked.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told RNZ's Morning Report one of the new cases is a nurse at Auckland Hospital.

"The health workforce are very well versed and mapping these issues and have done in the past.

We have had COVID-positive cases in our health workforce before. What's different on this occasion is that we have this individual who is fully vaccinated."

Ardern said the four new cases were the workmate of the 58-year-old Devonport man and the workmate's close or household contacts.

Thirty-three of the cases have been out in the community while infectious.

NSW Health confirmed a woman in her 90s from south west Sydney died yesterday at Liverpool Hospital.

It is the first COVID death in NSW since December 2020.

She was a close contact of a locally acquired case and was tested for COVID-19 on Friday, returning a positive result early yesterday morning.