August 17, 2021
Back to lockdown bubbles as outbreak source sought
Get back in your bubble – and then get vaccinated.
That’s the advice from Māori pandemic response group Te Whakakaupapa Urutā as the country went back into level four lockdown at midnight in response to the first case of COVID-19 in the community since February.
Cabinet imposed the tough restrictions on the basis it was likely to be the far more transmissible delta variant.
A 58-year-old Devonport man went to his GP with symptoms on Monday after returning from a weekend trip to Coromandel township – but he could have been shedding the virus since last Thursday.
Te Whakakaupapa Urutā co-char Rawiri McKree Jansen says that’s why a quick lockdown is essential even before the source of the outbreak is identified by genomic sequencing.
“So just stay within the bubble. Be really good about doing that one thing this week. I think everyone is good around being tested. Don’t go to work at all now, everyone stay at home. If you’re not well, definitely stay at home. Right now the household bubble is the most important thing we can do to keep our community safe,” he says.
Dr Jansen says once the lockdown is lifted it’s essential to redouble efforts to get the whole community vaccinated.
The lockdown is for seven days in Auckland and Coromandel and three days in the rest of the country.
As of yesterday 935,000 New Zealanders or 22.9 per cent of the population were fully vaccinated and another 686,0000 people, 16,8 per cent of the population had their first dose.
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