One Question Quiz
summerupdates3

LIVE UPDATES

Live updates is in summer mode

As we wind down for Christmas, The Spinoff’s regular live updates have ended for the year. From the afternoon of December 24 to January 9, live updates will be on hiatus – but may make a return if any major news happens.

 

If you’re after the latest Covid-19 case numbers, the Ministry of Health will be publishing them daily here, at around 1pm, apart from on December 25, January 1 and January 8.

 

Regular live updates will return in mid-January. Meri Kirihimete.

summerupdates3

Live updates is in summer mode

As we wind down for Christmas, The Spinoff’s regular live updates have ended for the year. From the afternoon of December 24 to January 9, live updates will be on hiatus – but may make a return if any major news happens.

 

If you’re after the latest Covid-19 case numbers, the Ministry of Health will be publishing them daily here, at around 1pm, apart from on December 25, January 1 and January 8.

 

Regular live updates will return in mid-January. Meri Kirihimete.

Dec 24 2021

Live updates are on holiday

summer live updates 2

Kia ora! Live updates are taking a break – but may make a return if major news happens.

If you’re after the latest Covid-19 case numbers, the Ministry of Health will be publishing them daily here, at around 1pm, apart from on December 25, January 1 and January 8.

Regular live updates will return in mid-January. Many thanks for your support this year – have a safe and happy festive season.

Meri Kirihimete and ngā mihi o te tau hou from your friends at The Spinoff.

The shape of the outbreak

62 new cases in the community, Covid patient in 50s dies in hospital

There are 62 new community cases of Covid-19 today, in Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Lakes and Canterbury, reports the Ministry of Health.

The ministry is also reporting the death of a patient with Covid-19 at North Shore Hospital. The patient, who was in their 50s, was admitted to hospital on December 11.

Regional updates

Today, there are 37 new cases being reported in Auckland. Health and welfare providers are now supporting 2,152 people to isolate at home, including 579 cases.

There are five new cases in Waikato, all in Te Kūiti. All new cases are known contacts of previous cases.

There are 14 new cases in the Western Bay of Plenty. Seven cases have been linked to existing cases, while interviews with the remaining are ongoing. Contacts are being identified and will be called and given testing and isolation advice.

There are five new cases in the Lakes district, all in or near Rotorua. Following initial investigations, three cases have been linked to existing cases.

Christchurch case travelled from Auckland on Air NZ flight

There is one new case to report in Christchurch today. Public health officials are investigating recent travel to Auckland as the source of their infection.

The case travelled from Auckland to Christchurch on Monday December 20 on Air NZ Flight NZ543.

All passengers on the flight are being treated as close contacts and are required to get tested. Contact tracing is under way to contact all passengers.

  • Cases in hospital: 45; North Shore: 6; Auckland: 17; Middlemore: 18; Waikato: 2; Tauranga: 2
  • Vaccination status of current hospitalisations (Northern Region wards only): Unvaccinated or not eligible (24 cases / 60%); partially immunised <7 days from second dose or have only received one dose (5 cases / 12%); fully vaccinated at least 7 days before being reported as a case (10 cases/ 25%); unknown (1 cases / 2%)
  • Average age of current hospitalisations: 50
  • Cases in ICU or HDU: 8 (1 in North Shore; 2 in Auckland; 4 in Middlemore; 1 in Tauranga)

Nine new cases in MIQ

There are nine new cases in MIQ, who travelled from the UK, the US, Greece, Germany, the UAE, Kenya, India and Australia. The Ministry of Health’s statement does not state whether any more omicron cases have been detected.

Vaccine update

  • Vaccines administered to date (percentage of eligible people): 3,971,055 first doses (95%); 3,830,209 second doses (91%); 27,613 third primary doses; 265,497 booster doses
  • Vaccines administered yesterday: 1,413 first doses; 7,135 second doses; 662 third primary doses and 12,128 booster doses.
  • Māori (percentage of eligible people): 498,945 first doses (87%); 453,526 second doses (79%)
  • Pacific Peoples (percentage of eligible people): 269,120 first doses (94%); 255,447 second doses (89%)

Case numbers

  • Seven day rolling average of community cases: 51.4
  • Number of new community cases: 62
  • Number of new cases identified at the border: 10
  • Location of new community cases: Auckland (37), Waikato (5), Bay of Plenty (14), Lakes (5), Canterbury (1).
  • Number of community cases (current community outbreak total): 10,493
  • Cases epidemiologically linked (total): 7,818
  • Number of active cases (total cases identified in the past 21 days and not yet classed as recovered): 1,491
  • Confirmed cases (total): 13,349

Test numbers

  • Number of tests total (last 24 hours): 19,027
  • Tests rolling average (last 7 days): 18,265
  • Auckland tests total (last 24 hours): 11,066

Covid-19 update due at 1pm

The Ministry of Health’s daily case update is due to be delivered via media release around 1pm. We’ll have all the details here, for the final time this year.

For the past two days, there have been 56 new cases in the community each day.

Christmas crisis: Strawberries in short supply in some regions

The crucial Christmas Eve berry-buying mission is proving tricky for the strawb fans of Aotearoa.

The Spinoff’s Ātea editor, Leonie Hayden, joined a queue for the quintessential pav-topper in the Wairarapa today, having found supermarkets across Greytown, Masterton and Carterton entirely cleaned out.

Rain and humidity in the Auckland region in recent weeks knocked out the supply for those in the north too, with the lucky ones who have managed to get their hands on some finding their strawberries small, green and pricey.

The going rate for a punnet has reached $6 in much of the country.

Photo: Leonie Hayden

Family saved from Christmas Day deportation

A Filipino family set to be deported from New Zealand on December 25 have received a last-minute Christmas present.

Migrants Jeffrey Santos, his wife Marjorie and their son James were to be deported over a mistake Jeffrey made out of desperation during the 2020 lockdown when he used a false address to claim $1600 in food vouchers.

He has since apologised, paid back the money and told Stuff.co.nz he visited a church on his street every week to ask for forgiveness. That wasn’t enough for Immigration NZ, who were set to deport the family on Christmas Day.

The plot twist in the family’s plight landed this morning. An outcry since news broke has seen Jeffrey receive a 12-month work visa, meaning the Cromwell-based family’s deportation will no longer go ahead.

Green Party MP Ricardo Menéndez confirmed the news on Twitter, thanking advocates for fighting for the family until the last minute.

Menéndez said he was “deeply relieved” and it “shouldn’t have taken public pressure for the Santos family to not be deported”.

“Our fight to fix our immigration system and liveable incomes for all continues,” he said.


Read more: Bernard Hickey on our ‘kind’ country’s mean migration settings