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Officials stop counting subclusters as cases surge

The Ministry of Health has stopped counting the number of Covid-19 sub-clusters as unlinked cases surge across Ta¯maki Makaurau. ‘‘Given the number of unlinked cases each day, sub-clusters are not currently being used in the active management of the outbreak in Auckland,’’ the ministry said yesterday. ‘‘Epidemiological links are being explored during case interviews and whole genome sequencing is being undertaken on all cases, but the focus is on isolating cases and identifying, testing and isolating close contacts.’’ There were 65 new cases of Covid-19 in the Delta community outbreak reported yesterday, all in Auckland. Thirty-four of the cases were linked, with 10 being household contacts. A further 31 were unlinked. There were 107 unlinked cases reported in the past 14 days. Microbiologist Dr Siouxsie Wiles said the removal of sub-clusters from the daily reports was concerning. ‘‘We know numbers are rising and this is just another sign for New Zealanders to brace themselves.’’

National News

en-nz

2021-10-16T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-10-16T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://fairfaxmedia.pressreader.com/article/281642488360558

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