2 Sep 2019

Measles cases in Auckland top 800

From Checkpoint, 5:09 pm on 2 September 2019

Health officials say they are still a long way off using special powers to limit public gatherings to prevent the spread of measles - despite the number of Auckland cases rising to more than 800.

That's up from 778 cases on Saturday, with 963 measles cases nationwide - the worst outbreak in New Zealand in more than two decades.

Twenty Auckland secondary schools have been notified that a student attending a school ball on Saturday night may have had measles - and any unvaccinated students were today urged to stay away from school.

But while hospitals and medical clinics are urgently working to give jabs to as many unvaccinated people as possible - Auckland's medical officer of health says life must go on, and they won't be stopping public events or sports matches just yet.

Checkpoint cameraman Nick Monro and reporter Nita Blake-Persen have the details.