9 new cases of COVID-19 23 October

There are nine new cases of COVID-19 to report in New Zealand today.

Eight of these cases have been detected in our managed isolation facilities and one is a household contact connected to the marine employee cluster, who was already in self isolation.

Seven of the cases in managed isolation involve fishing crew at our Christchurch facility. These were picked up at day six testing and we do expect more positive results from this group as more tests are processed today.

The other case from managed isolation arrived from Iran via Dubai on 19 October. They tested positive following routine day 3 testing and are now in our Auckland quarantine facility.

Our total number of active cases is now 66.

Our total number of confirmed cases is now 1,567.

Yesterday our laboratories completed 6,053 tests for COVID-19, bringing the total number of tests completed to date to 1,054,047.

Weekend testing

The metro Auckland DHBs are monitoring the demand for testing closely and remain ready to further increase testing capacity over the long weekend if needed.

There will be plenty of testing opportunities available over the long weekend.

Seven community testing centres will be open – those are Northcote Community Testing Centre, Northcare Accident and Medical, Whānau House in Henderson, Western Springs Community Testing Centre, the Whānau Ora Community Clinic in Wiri, the Otara Community Testing Centre, and the North Harbour stadium carpark in Albany.

COVID-19 testing is also available across metro Auckland at a number of urgent care clinics and general practices over the long weekend. A reminder that wherever you get swabbed, a COVID-19 test is free of charge.

Full details of testing availability in Auckland can be found on the ARPHS website.

Where ever you are in New Zealand over coming days, you can call Healthline for advice 24/7 and information on testing locations. Their dedicated COVID-19 number is

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