Covid-19: One new Wellington case, Hutt Valley case confirmed to be Omicron

The first case of the Omicron variant has been confirmed in the Hutt Valley.

Whole genome sequencing has confirmed a case of Covid-19 announced in the Hutt Valley on Sunday is the Omicron variant.

It comes as the Ministry of Health says Omicron is now the dominant variant in New Zealand.

Meanwhile, one new case of Covid-19 has been detected in Wellington, which is linked to an event in Auckland. Case investigations were under way to identify exposure events linked to this case, the Ministry of Health said in a statement.

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* Covid-19: Two new cases in Wellington, 25 locations of interest including four flights
* Covid-19: Person with Covid-19 went to Wellington airport but didn’t board flight

Authorities were already working under the assumption that this case, and another case announced in the Capital & Coast region on Sunday, were the Omicron variant.

Monday’s case and the Capital & Coast case announced on Sunday have not yet been confirmed to be Omicron.

In its update, the Ministry said whole genome sequencing was continuing to be done on all new unlinked cases of Covid-19.

“The Omicron variant of Covid-19 is now the dominant variant, therefore the specific variant of the virus is no longer being reported alongside case numbers. As cases continue to increase, the priority for whole genome sequencing will be to highlight patterns of virus spread rather than individual cases,” the statement said.

The Hutt Valley case has been linked to an Auckland event, and the Capital & Coast case announced on Sunday was linked to an existing case and already in isolation when they tested positive.

With recent detections of Covid-19 in wastewater in Porirua, the Ministry is urging anyone who lives in Porirua and Wellington’s northern suburbs to get a test if they feel unwell with Covid-19 symptoms.

New Hawke’s Bay cases

Two new cases have been detected in Hawke’s Bay, both with links to a previously reported Delta case, the Ministry said. One person with Covid-19 is in hospital in Hawke’s Bay.

A staff member at Colwyn House rest home in Hastings has tested positive for the virus.

Heritage Lifecare chief executive Norah Barlow said the staff member, who had not been at work since last Tuesday, was isolating.

A no-visitor policy was in place until the end of Tuesday as a precaution, Barlow said.

“None of the residents are showing symptoms of Covid, and we have staff to cover the person who is isolating, so everything is in hand,” she said.

Hawke’s Bay DHB’s medical officer of health, Dr Nick Jones, said Hawke’s Bay had a number of active Covid-19 clusters, which were related to both Omicron and Delta variants.

With both variants circulating, it was “vitally important” people who had any sign of cold and flu like illness got tested, Jones said.

“While, for many, Omicron will be a mild-to-moderate disease, for others it will be much more severe and people need to think about who they might infect if they don’t do the right thing by isolating and getting tested if they were sick.”

Testing drive-through testing centres at Whitmore Park in Napier, Splash Planet in Hastings, and CHB Health Centre in Waipukurau were open today and throughout the week.

He also urged all those eligible for their booster shot to come forward to add a layer of protection against the virus.

“Our public health team is working very hard as there are many people associated with these clusters …”

People should continue to check for new locations of interest, which would be added as investigations continued, he said.

No new locations of interest have been named in Wellington since the weekend, when 24 locations of interest were named, including four flights in and out of the airport, which were deemed high risk.