Director general of health Ashley Bloomfield says there are six new Covid-19 cases, including a bus driver, all linked to the Mt Roskill Evangelical Fellowship Church mini-cluster.
The number of cases linked to the mini-cluster - connected to the Mt Roskill Evangelical Fellowship Church - is now 43. There is a smaller cluster of 14 within that, linked to people grieving a death.
A person grieving mixed with other grieving people while infectious with Covid-19, he said.
Four of today's cases were linked to a household visit associated with the bereavement. The other two were identified close contacts part of the mini-cluster who were already self-isolating.
At the time of the household visit the man had been tested, but did not have the result of the test.
He did not go the funeral.
Bloomfield said his virtual alert dashboard was "flashing orange" in light of the cases connected to the bereavement.
However, he stressed the cases connected to the bereavement were the only known "additional tentacle out from the Mt Roskill grouping".
Initially 'some reluctance' to get tested
Bloomfield said there was initially "some reluctance" from people within the mini-cluster to get tested, but that was overcome after specialist Maori and Pacific health services were brought on board.
Asked if not accepting the science was a reason why people in the mini-cluster were initially reluctant to be tested, Bloomfield said there were a number of reasons including whether people believe Covid-19 is a "real thing", and how invasive the test is.
He said there was now "good engagement" with that community so they are willing to be tested.
Using the Health Act to force people into quarantine remained a possibility, he added, and that was the legal authority under which some people in the community had been moved into quarantine.
Police disperse illegal mini-cluster meeting
He said there was a meeting of mini-cluster people on August 15, when Auckland was in level 3, and police had gone and asked that meeting to disperse.
Bloomfield said the size of the group associated with the Mt Roskill mini-cluster had grown by hundreds since it was detected - there were 108 contacts identified with the bereavement activities alone.
He did not know how many had been infected in the community who weren't isolating, but he added that most of the infected cases had been household contacts.
Children among new cases
A baby boy and three other children are among the six cases.
Bloomfield said many in the church group had been tested, but was now asking all members of the fellowship to be re-tested.
"People should be tested even if they have no symptoms."
He said it was a series of bereavement activities, including visits to households and a funeral on September 7.
All the close contacts, including all 48 people at the funeral, from those events are in isolation and are being tested.
Bloomfield said the wider testing of those involved in the church was about containing the wider outbreak.
According to Ministry of Health data three of the six are under the age of four.
Bus driver tests positive
Another case reported yesterday, also part of the new sub-cluster, was a driver on the northern express bus service. That bus travels between the central city and at least as far as Albany.
Auckland regional public health said there were no close contacts on the relevant bus journeys, and the driver was not symptomatic at the time, but was also wearing a mask.
HOP card data will also be used to identify passengers as a precaution, he said.
The public health unit will later reveal details of the bus journeys.
Rydges Hotel maintenance worker
Bloomfield said the maintenance worker at Rydges Hotel was likely infected in a one-off event by using the elevator at the hotel. The case is now closed. No close contacts tested positive.
School pupil tests positive
Last night, a student at St Dominic's Catholic College was confirmed as having Covid-19.
Schools with students who either travel on buses into the area or share close family connections are telling parents to take a cautious approach to the unfolding Covid situation.
Health Minister Chris Hipkins revealed this morning that the student was a previously undisclosed close contact of the Mt Roskill mini-cluster.
He added that the mini-cluster had been "challenging" because some within it "don't accept or haven't previously accepted the science", and police had been brought in to ensure we're "getting the sort of cooperation we really need".
A person who works at Auckland's Māori public health unit, Hapai Te Hauora, has also tested positive.
A letter sent yesterday from the Auckland Regional Public Health Service to those working in the Whānau Centre building, where the infected person works, says a person at Hapai is now a confirmed case.
Yesterday there were six new cases of Covid-19, two in managed isolation and four linked to the Mt Roskill Evangelical Fellowship Church group.
There were four people in hospital including two were in ICU.
Additional reporting ODT
