13 Sep 2021

Decision day: will Auckland move down alert levels?

From Nine To Noon, 9:05 am on 13 September 2021
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Photo: RNZ / Jordan Bond

Cabinet Ministers will meet today to decide if any part of the country is ready to change Alert Levels. Tāmaki Makaurau remains at Level 4 until at least midnight Tuesday, and the rest of the country is at Level 2. Yesterday there were 20 new community cases of Covid-19, bringing the total number in the outbreak to 922, but 34 of those cases still have no known link to the original outbreak, raising fears there may be unknown chains of transmission. In Auckland, seven suburbs will be the focus of increased surveillance testing this week as health officials look to crack the mystery Covid cases. Testing will centre on Mount Eden, Massey, Papatoetoe, Otara, Mangere, Favona and Manurewa. Lynn speaks with Covid-19 modeller, Professor Michael Plank from the University of Canterbury.