Covid-19 Omicron outbreak: Today’s case numbers, has variant spread further?

The country is waiting to discover if Omicron has spread further in the community, including whether there are fresh infections from a wedding attended by a Motueka family and fears more Air NZ cabin crew are showing symptoms.

Many Kiwis have today returned to working from home and a raft of summer events hang in the balance after the country moved back into the red traffic light setting at 11.59pm yesterday following confirmation that Omicron had entered the community.

The move to red comes as genome sequencing continues to work out exactly how a Motueka family caught Covid after visiting Auckland.

Today’s case numbers from the Ministry of Health are due in a statement at 1pm.

Cabinet is not meeting today due to the Wellington Anniversary public holiday.

Earlier today the ministry released new Omicron exposure site locations including an Auckland restaurant, airport bus ride and a Motueka supermarket.

The connection between the nine Nelson Omicron cases and the border is not yet known – leading health officials to believe the highly transmissable variant was circulating in Auckland and potentially in the Nelson region.

The family visited the city last weekend, attending a wedding and funeral, and visiting SkyCity and an amusement park.

Another guest at the New Lynn wedding and an Air New Zealand crew member who worked on five Air NZ flights while potentially infectious have since tested positive for Omicron.

Covid Response Minister Chris Hipkins told Newstalk ZB this morning that there would be “undoubtedly” more Omicron cases today.

Modelling he had received suggested there could be “tens of thousands” of daily Omicron cases within weeks.

Air New Zealand chief executive Greg Foran said this morning that some other crew members were already showing symptoms and he expected more of the workforce to test positive.

The infected crew member who worked the Auckland to Nelson flight was double vaccinated, but he was unsure if they had received their booster shot, he told RNZ.

He said the infected crew member was in “good shape and in good spirits”. The positive result had been picked up as part of Air New Zealand’s regular testing.

Air New Zealand has stood down a number of crew members – all double vaccinated – linked to the infected passenger and crew member.

Yesterday, there were 24 new community cases with Covid-19 and eight people in hospital.

There were 16 cases in Auckland, two in Northland, one in Waikato and five in Rotorua.

The tenth household member in Nelson Tasman to test positive will be officially added to today’s case numbers.

An aged care worker from Summerset by the Park Rest Home in Flat Bush in Auckland also tested positive for Covid, plunging the facility into lockdown yesterday. The worker is linked to the Nelson family and genome sequencing is being carried out to confirm if they also have the Omicron variant.