As Covid-19 cases rise, so do the number of places where Aucklanders may have been exposed to it. There are now more than 15,000 contacts and more than 400 locations of interest.
A queue for Covid-19 testing in Auckland. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi
The growing list includes almost 30 supermarkets, nine secondary schools, four churches and two universities.
Crave Cafe in Morningside is a popular spot for weekend brunch, but anyone who was there on the morning of Sunday 15 August is now being told to isolate and get tested, after they were potentially exposed to the virus.
The cafe's managing director Nigel Cottle said about 15 staff and 200 customers were there at the time.
"I'm not concerned in the sense that it was nine days ago and so it does seem that with Delta from what I'm reading and hearing, it presents itself a much much earlier than the other forms of Covid, and so I think if we were gonna see something happen out of their visit to us on Sunday the 15th, we would have seen it already," he said.
It is the second time Crave has ended up a location of interest - it was caught up in last year's August outbreak too.
Cottle was not sure how many people scanned in with the Covid Tracer app, but he said when the business was allowed to reopen, things would change.
"When we come out of level 4 and level 3, I think we'll be mandated to ensure that everyone has signed on or we've collected their data, and so we'll be changing our processes to ensure that everyone comes in either we see them signing in digitally or we collect their data manually."
Green Bay High School was the ninth secondary school to confirm a positive case. Principal Fiona Barker said the student with Covid-19 was in school for six days while potentially infectious.
She said all of the school's 1600 students and 130 staff members were close contacts.
"Everybody is jumping in the queue to get tested and we're just working really closely with the ministry of how to follow up really quickly and work out next steps," Barker said.
"Everyone is concerned at the moment. I think it's a worry in communities for sure, but I guess that we're doing the right thing, so we'll just follow that good advice from the Ministry of Health and and continue to do what's necessary."
Fifty-eight of the 148 Covid-19 cases are connected to the Assembly of God church in Māngere - making it the largest subcluster in the outbreak.
Spokesperson Jerome Mika said his church was working with authorities and health providers to make sure everyone affected got tested.
"We're concerned in terms of the severity and also trying to cooperate fully with the Ministry of Health and for us it's also just making sure we do the best thing for the best interests of Aotearoa," he said.
The latest church to be caught up in the outbreak - St Therese Catholic Church in Māngere East - said it was getting in touch with parishioners to provide support, including food.
The Auckland University of Technology said it now had nine confirmed cases.
Several new locations at the university's central city campus have been added to the locations of interest list, and the university said it was working with health authorities to identify locations of interest and close contacts.
The University of Auckland said the pop-up testing stations for Whitaker Block and Waipārūrū Hall were there on Saturday and Sunday and now gone.
"I understand all students were tested and as far as we are aware (we have not been advised otherwise by students or ARPHS) there was no positive test. Otherwise we continue to work to keep students in these halls safe," a spokesperson said.
Photo: Google Maps
Two Pak'nSave stores - in Royal Oak and Sylvia Park - have also been visited by positive cases.
Foodstuffs New Zealand head of corporate affairs Antoinette Laird said 651 staff members were isolating across the business and from 11 New World and Pak'nSave stores.
"That means that sometimes about a third of the store team, or more, are isolating. This does put pressure on our teams, but the wider Foodies group has rallied, owner operators have come out of retirement, we've been taking people on and training them up fast," she said.
"We're proud the doors of all our stores are still open so we can continue to provide New Zealanders with their essential food and groceries in a safe shopping environment- individual stores are cleaned throughout the day, and we're following advice from the Ministry of Health on their recommended Covid-19 cleaning protocols."
Director General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said the rapid spread showed Delta was high-infectious and transmissible and it was important for people to abide by the lockdown rules.
"I do again encourage people to continually check the ministry website. There is obviously the functionality with the map and the ability to search to identify locations of interest that may be relevant to you," he said.
Bloomfield said nearly 900 people were working as contact tracers around the country.
