Covid 19 Omicron: Ministry of Health to release latest case numbers

The Ministry of Health is due to update the latest Covid case numbers at 1pm.

It comes two hours after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Dr Ashley Bloomfield confirmed there were multiple unlinked cases of the Omicron variant in the community and the whole country would move into the red traffic light setting from midnight tonight.

Until now, almost all cases in the current outbreak have been Delta, and case numbers have been trending down over January.

However, the number of people at the border testing positive for Omicron has swelled into the hundreds in a matter of weeks.

Experts have been warning people to get ready for the highly contagious variant to spill over into the community eventually.

They say we will not be able to stop Omicron but we can slow it down with the right public health measures.

Omicron is now circulating in Auckland and possibly Nelson, if not further, Ardern told media today at an unscheduled 11am press conference.

She announced that from midnight the whole of Aotearoa would move back into the red traffic light setting, which brings tighter capacity limits, more restrictions for unvaccinated people and other public health measures.

The red phase of the Covid-19 protection framework is used when it is deemed necessary to protect vulnerable communities and the health system from being overwhelmed.

Nine people in Nelson have tested positive for the Omicron variant, and an Air NZ crew member who was on their Auckland-Nelson flight has also tested positive for Omicron.

It was initially thought the group caught Covid from the air crew member, however it is now believed the air crew member caught it from the group.

The group from Nelson attended a wedding in Auckland on January 13, as well as a funeral, an amusement park and the Sky Tower.

They flew back to Nelson on January 16, on the flight shared by the air crew member. He then worked on a further four flights, which are all now locations of interest.

Those locations of interest are being added to the Ministry of Health website.

Those in the group who were eligible had been vaccinated, according to the Prime Minister.