There are 41 new cases of Covid-19 in the community today, a day after the country's lockdown was extended.Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said 38 of the new cases were in Auckland and three in Wellington.The Wellington cases were in contacts first reached two evenings ago, and have known links to the outbreak.About 59 cases in the Auckland outbreak have not yet been epidemiologically linked to the outbreak, Bloomfield said, but it was clear the vast majority of those were either are a close contact or were at a location of interest.Advertisement: Thai Thai RestaurantThere are eight Covid-positive patients in hospital, none in ICU, all in pressure-isolated rooms.There are 80 genomes sequences, all linked to the outbreak.Bloomfield said the majority of cases in the outbreak were of Samoan ethnicity, in large part due to the subcluster at the Assembly of God church.The second-biggest subcluster is associated with the first cases identified, which has 23 cases.Advertisement: Southern MobilityAs of 9am today there were 15,741 contacts formally identified, about 10 times as many as there were in the outbreak about this time last year in Auckland.There are now nearly 900 frontline contact tracers working around the country.There are 369 contacts who could be considered the "very closest contacts".Bloomfield said all cases were interviewed within 24 hours and 89 percent of close contacts were interviewed within 24 hours of a case notification.Advertisement: Steph Jones Ray White Real Estate Te Anau"The time from exposure event to contact identification, the metric is over 80 percent within 24 hours and that's sitting at 75 percent at the moment."He said there were an additional 100 locations of interest since the last update, more than 400 in total.Yesterday, the ministry announced 35 new cases of Covid-19, 33 in Auckland and two in Wellington.Reporting by RNZRepublished by Arrangement

Southland and Fiordland are coming together to attract tourists from around the world. A new International Marketing Alliance (IMA) has been set up, comprising only the two Southland regional tourism organisations (RTOs).Until now, Fiordland was part of the Southern Lakes IMA along with Queenstown and Wanaka, while Southland was part of the Pure Southern Land IMA with Dunedin, Waitaki and Clutha.Great South GM tourism and events Bobbi Brown says the new Fiordland and Southland alliance, the tenth in New Zealand, will bring significant additional international exposure.Advertisement: Southern Automobiles Subaru"The timing is right. People all over the world are locked up and dreaming of their next overseas escape, so the bigger platform we have to sell our experiences and destination the better," she said."Fiordland and Southland have had longstanding and highly-valued relationships with Queenstown and other neighbouring RTOs and this will continue through various partnerships including the Southern Scenic Route and the proposed 45 South NZ touring route."Great South took over management of the Fiordland RTO in April this year and the new IMA was part of its approach to increase the profile of the region both domestically and internationally, as outlined in the Southland Murihiku Destination Strategy."When international borders re-open we will be in an excellent position to get more visitors to Southland and Fiordland," she said.Advertisement: TrenzThe new IMA would be marketed overseas as 'Great South" and has its own logo which would only be used internationally.The alliances are marketed by Tourism New Zealand at international tradeshows, making it easier to promote the entire country.

Southern Institute of Technology has appointed Dr Keri Milne-Ihimaera to the position of General Manager – Māori Development.The newly-created role reflects SIT's commitment to Te Tiriti O Waitangi | the Treaty of Waitangi, and also the institute's ongoing commitment to raising achievement outcomes forMāori students.The role will focus on building closer relationships with Iwi in the region and foster Māori development across the organisation, to ensure positive outcomes for students.Dr Milne-Ihimaera is Ngāi Tahu and comes to the position with over 16 years experience in roles as a school principal, general manager, and an executive director, where sheprovided a Māori woman's perspective – as a mother, wife, and grandmother - in the areas of education, leadership, people and strategy.She completed a Doctorate of Māori Development and Advancement (DMDA) in 2018 and since then has enjoyed working in consulting roles.She says she likes to push the boundaries and encourage people to think about what else is possible: "I lead by example and love to see others develop and flourish in a supportive team environment."SIT will benefit from Dr Milne-Ihimaera's ability to navigate, understand and implement Mātauranga Māori | Māori knowledge, including Tikanga Māori | cultural authenticity, andManaakitanga | the care of others - doing the right thing by them, with a focus on ensuring positive outcomes."Teaching and education is in my blood and is my passion and purpose. This has enabled me to take my skills and knowledge into other industries to develop programmes andeducate and mentor others in a supportive and safe way", she said.SIT's chief executive, Onno Mulder is thrilled with the appointment. "By bringing a highly-accomplished Māori Leader on board as GM – Māori Development, we intend to lift thesupport services available to our Māori ākonga | students, empowering them to reach their full potential."Dr Milne-Ihimaera recently relocated from Auckland to Southland, and lives in Bluff. She started her role in August and is based at SIT's Invercargill campus

Haere Mai, TalofaThank you for your support and backing for all our Olympic athletes.They did so well and have made our country proud.It is amazing how time after time we as a nation always seem to punch well above our weight.With 20 medals, we finished 13th on the medals table.7 Gold, 6 Silver and 7 Bronze.Like the Olympians, our children at Riverton Primary have the same drive and determination.Well done to our 2 teams who played at Otautau in the WS Netball tournament.Our Mixed team won their division and the year 6 team came second.What great results.Thank you very much for all the parent help and to the Aparima students for helping with the umpiring.Congratulations to everyone for contributing to the Blair Vining foundation.We managed to raise $230 which is fantastic, thank you.This week our classes start our visits to Taku Tai Marae. Tikanga activity outside, art & stories in the wharekai.I would like to thank Dione Ormsby for putting this all together for the school.GATE Art was a highlight for 20 of our artists.Thank you Karen Pringle for your expertise in this area.Our netball teams had a ball at the Invercargill Netball Tournament, thanks to all the parent help and the support of umpires from Aparima College.We had a visit from the Dorothy Chamberlain choir singers a couple of weeks ago and we all had a fun time singing along together.Thank you for giving us a taste of music. .Thank you so much Tracy for the most generous parting gift, 'Our Buddy Bench'.We wish you all the best on your retirement and spending some special time with your family and well deserved time to yourself.We will truly miss you around here.Thank you for all you have done over the years and how you have contributed to our community and all the children who have been educated by you. Studies have confirmed active lifestyles linked to student wellbeing.Sport plays a vital role in students’ lives.A student who exercise at least three days a week report greater life satisfaction than students who do not exercise outside of school.Students who participate in moderate physical activity that raises their heart rate and makes them sweat for at least 60 minutes per day (such as walking or riding a bike) tend to have a better well-being than those who don’t participate in sport or physical activity at all.Well-being outcomes linked to activities include a greater sense of belonging at school, lower schoolwork-related anxiety, less bullying and lower risk of skipping school.It also contributes to academic performance and is more likely to value teamwork and cooperation.Like the saying goes, ‘Healthy body, healthy mind.’Riverton School proudly supported by D T Kings

Covid-19 cases have not yet peaked and the numbers of new infections yesterday was not unexpected, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says.Ardern told Morning Report health workers continue to find people who are likely to have been in contact with a Covid-19 case and could have been infectious before the lockdown started."So their view is that we will start to see fewer locations of interest, but where we are right now, only seven days in, we are not at the point where we are picking up infections that are only in lockdown in the entire time."The 35 new cases reported yesterday was not unexpected, she said.Advertisement: Petsmart.nzWith the Delta variant all household members of a case will usually become infected, unlike previous strains where only some or even no members of the same household would contract the virus."That does affect your numbers particularly if you are dealing with large households."We did say that we didn't believe we would peak until eight to 10 days [into lockdown]. We're not there yet."Ardern said extra testing capacity has been set up across the country to cope with the huge demand for testing which has seen long queues at testing sites.Advertisement: MoneyTalksSpecific sites were set up for priority vaccination cases.Ardern suggested people should also check if their local GP was offering testing.In some areas, 10 times the rate of tests were being done as in the previous week, she said.Ardern said officials were running down every theory trying to find out how the Delta variant spread from the apparent source in managed isolation.Two people who passed through an atrium alongside the Crown Plaza isolation facility as the traveller was being checked in are still being sought.Four have been identified using CCTV and three of them have tested negative.Those going into MIQ go in through the lobby via the atrium, which is a thoroughfare shared by members of the public, but is divided by a perspex barrier.Ardern said investigations were under way, but to date transmission had been primarily through droplets so it was understandable that those designing the facilities would think large perspex walls would be sufficient."Everything that we've done around our managed isolation facilities has been based on the way that we know Covid-19 has been behaving."In the mean time, people are not being put in the Crowne Plaza facility."Just in case we do find that it has come out through some other means that we have not yet identified - that means that we can address that immediately."From Morning Report: "We're not there yet" - PM on Covid-19 case numbers peaking Reporting by RNZRepublished by Arrangement

New Zealand will remain in lockdown until at least midnight on Friday, August 27.Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern this afternoon announced Cabinet's decision to extend the nationwide Alert Level 4. It had been due to finish at 11.59pm tomorrow.Auckland, the centre of the outbreak, will remain in lockdown until Tuesday, August 31, at least.There are 107 community cases in this outbreak, all likely to be the Delta variant, including 35 announced today.Advertisement: Otautau Four SquareThe vast majority are in Auckland, along with eight in Wellington.So far, there have been no cases elsewhere in the country and no evidence from wastewater testing that the virus has spread to the South Island.But Ardern says the 48-hour travel window means "we have in essence only had 72 hours . . . where everyone across the country has stayed put".During that window, 8000 people flew out of Auckland.Advertisement: Southern IsuzuModelling suggests the outbreak, now on day 6, has not yet reached its peak."That does mean though that the safest option for all of us right now is to hold the course for longer," Ardern said."This will allow us to have additional data and assurances to whether the virus has spread from our existing sites and how contained it's likely to be."There are now 320 locations of interest, and more than 13,000 close contacts.Advertisement: Thai AnauArdern showed a heat map showing the location of known contacts, appearing to show some in Invercargill, Dunedin, Queenstown and Wanaka.The nationwide decision will be reviewed on Friday, while Auckland will be reviewed on Monday.More follows.  

There are 35 new cases of Covid-19 in the New Zealand community confirmed today.Of these 33 are in Auckland and two are in Wellington. This brings the total number of cases in the community outbreak to 107."As previously indicated, it’s not unexpected to see a rise in daily case numbers at this stage," a Ministry of Health statement reads."At its peak last year, New Zealand had a daily total of 89 new cases."Advertisement: Colac Bay TavernAll of the cases have or are being transferred safely to a managed isolation facility, under strict infection prevention and control procedures, including the use of full PPE.The total number of community cases in Auckland is now 99 and Wellington's number of community cases has increased to eight."Of the 107 cases in the cluster, 72 are already epidemiologically linked to other community cases identified in the outbreak."Investigations are continuing to determine whether and how the remaining 35 cases are linked to the outbreak, however most have a plausible link on initial assessment.Advertisement: Frew Engineering"For example, people were at a location of interest. We will continue to release this information and new locations of interest as it becomes available."ESR (New Zealand's Crown Research Institute that specialises in science relating to people and communities) also continues to run whole genome sequencing on cases. Yesterday 29 samples were sequenced and all were confirmed as being linked to the Auckland outbreak.There are three new cases in recent returnees in managed isolation facilities.Cabinet will take a decision today on alert levels, with an announcement due at 4pm.Advertisement: HotspotOn the origin of the outbreak, public health officials are continuing to investigate those who used the atrium thoroughfare at the Crowne Plaza while the earliest identified case was in the lobby, as there is a possibility of air flow between the two spaces.A total of six people walked in the open walkway while the case was in the lobby, of those four have been identified and three have tested negative and one person is in the process of getting a test. There are two people still to be identified, which police are assisting with."This thoroughfare is located inside the Crowne Plaza building and is not the outside walkway which is used to access the Huawei Centre," the statement reads."It has been confirmed the case was indoors while a very small number of people walked in the open walkway, which is well ventilated."Advertisement: Riverside RentalsYesterday, 35,766 tests were processed across New Zealand.The Ministry is advising that only people who were at a location of interest, at the specified times, or have cold and flu symptoms, should get tested. Call Healthline on 0800 358 5453 for advice on testing.ESR is today collecting wastewater samples from 41 sites throughout New Zealand for testing, covering 3.7 million New Zealanders.There are no new findings to report today, but samples taken on Friday and Saturday returned no other unexpected detections anywhere else in the country.Advertisement: Heather Sinclair Ray White Te AnauPublic health staff across New Zealand continue to contact trace, with a focus on higher risk locations."The number of contacts has increased significantly. This is something we expected as we identify more cases and test in large numbers," the statement reads.As of 8am today, 13,230 individual contacts have been identified – and this number will increase throughout the day, as records are fully processed.The majority of these contacts are close contacts.Advertisement: SuperValue PlazaOf these contacts, 6,773 have been contacted by public health staff and are self-isolating, and 42% have had a test.Work is underway to contact the remaining 6,457 contacts.There are now more than 280 locations of interest listed on the Ministry’s website.Of these, 11 locations of interest are in Wellington, a few are scattered across the North Island and the rest are located in Auckland. There are also two flights between Auckland Wellington.Advertisement: Te Anau Paper PlusThere is now an interactive map that makes it easier to identify locations of interest, and you can also search locations.Yesterday, 35,800 doses of the Pfizer vaccine were given nationally. This was made up of 26,835 first doses, and 8,965 second doses.More than 2.78 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered to date (to 11.59pm on 22 August).Of these, 1.77 million are first doses and more than one million are second doses.Advertisement: WaterForceNZ COVID Tracer now has 3,026,123 registered users. Poster scans have reached 327,988,169 and users have created 13,896,382 manual diary entries.There have been 477,029 scans in the 24 hours to midday yesterday."It’s really pleasing to see we’ve hit three million users on the NZ COVID Tracer App," says Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield."Thank you to everyone who has become a user of the app and to those who continue to scan QR codes to keep a record of where they’ve been."Over the past week we’ve seen how important these records have become – making it easier for contact tracers as we all work to keep New Zealanders safe from COVID-19." 

Scouts Aotearoa today launched “The Great Indoors” a website where families looking for activities for their young people during the Level 4 lockdown can get ideas.The programme is free and open to all New Zealand families.Scouts Aotearoa Programme Manager John Williams said, “With the whole country going into Level 4 at such short notice we thought, in the best tradition of Scouts, we can help.Over the past three days we've pulled together a collection of activities and built 'The Great Indoors' website.Advertisement: Thai Thai Restaurant'The Great Indoors' is based on our very successful 'Scouting from Home' programme that ran during the six-week lockdown in 2020.”"There is something on the website for all ages and abilities”, said Mr. Williams, “It's free and anyone with young people at home who need something to do, just need to come to the website and download the activities.”Activities include, for example, indoor caving, boat making, bird watching, nature art and window displays.The web address is https://scouts.nz/the-great-indoors/

While the vast majority of the community for doing the right thing under Alert Level 4 restrictions Police have had to deal with a few incidents over the weekend.Since Alert Level 4 came into place, Police have charged 23 people with a total of 27 offences nationwide as at 5pm yesterday. These arrests are primarily the result of protest activity.Of the 27 charges filed, 14 are for Failing to Comply with Order (COVID-19), 11 for Failure to Comply with Direction/Prohibition/Restriction and 2 for Health Act Breaches.Advertisement: Riverside RentalsIn the same time period, 65 people were issued with formal warnings.22 of the formal warnings were for Failing to Comply with Order (COVID-19), 16 for Failure to Comply with Direction/Prohibition/Restriction and 27 for Health Act Breaches.Supermarkets as well as COVID testing and vaccination sites remain high demand locations for reassurance patrols.Police have received a total of 4487 105-online breach notifications. 2550 were about a gathering, 1542 were about a business, and 395 were about a person.Advertisement: RD PetroleumIn addition to the 105 Online Breach Reports, a total of 3611 Covid-19 related calls were made to the 105-phone line. The majority (71%) of calls were requests for information, and 29% were to report perceived Covid-19 breaches.From 19 August 2021, Police began issuing infringements for COVID-19 related breaches.As at 5pm on 21 August 2021, Police have issued 174 infringements nationwide.Advertisement: Otautau SuperValueThis is an increase of 104 infringements from the previous day. The breakdown of these total offences is as follows:·    Person failed to remain at current home / residence – 146·    Person failed to comply with applicable physical distancing rule – 13·    Person failed to wear a face covering on premises – 9·    Person failed to wear a face covering on public transport – 2·    Obstruct/Hinder Medical Officer of Health or Person Assisting Med Officer - 4Overall, Police are encouraged to see how well people are behaving across the country but there is a small number of people who are continuing to flout the rules.Advertisement: Here are a few examples of issues from the across country Police have dealt with since Friday:Police managed to prevent a planned protest at Aotea Square yesterday afternoon and around 30 people were turned away. Two women were arrested and charged; a 41-year-old, for failing to comply with a direction/prohibition/restriction (Covid-19); and a 69-year-old, for failing to comply with an order (Covid-19).  Both are scheduled to appear in Auckland District Court on Monday.In Auckland overnight, at around 3am, Waitematā Police arrested a 26-year-old man who was seen driving around and was wanted by Police in relation to an alleged burglary last week. He has been charged with receiving stolen property and obtains by deception. He also received an infringement notice for beaching the Alert Level 4 restrictions.In Otago on Friday morning, seven men from six separate bubbles were found jet boating by a Police officer who was patrolling along the Makarora River. One of the men had travelled from Dunedin – a four-hour drive. Enforcement action will be taken against the men and this is currently being processed.In Nelson, the behaviour has been really positive overall, but we just remind those wanting to use Tahunanui Beach to be mindful that with the number of people using it to exercise, to ensure they are physically distancing and remaining in their bubbles, and to consider wearing a face covering to keep themselves and others safe.Police have a low tolerance for deliberate breaches of the rules and will act quickly to enforcement if required.With the Delta strain of COVID19 being more serious than what we have previously seen, Police advise it is incredibly important that people follow the rules to keep ourselves, our loved ones and the wider community safe.

Chef Ethan Flack has returned to Invercargill after years working in Michelin-starred restaurants in the UK.He plans to open a food space where he can tell the stories of Southland's farmers and growers and can show-case the province's primary produce.Before he turned 20, Ethan Flack wanted to work in the UK restaurant Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons so badly he emailed once a fortnight for 18 months asking for a job.The restaurant, which has two Michelin stars, finally replied and a Zoom interview was arranged.Advertisement: Ray White Real Estate Te Anau"It was at four in the morning because that was the time that suited them...and I was in reception in the hotel where I was doing my apprenticeship in my chef's jacket and my pyjama bottoms," he says."If you really want something you have to go for it."That was ten years ago.Listen duration 12 mins, 37secsSince then Ethan's spent years working at Le Manoir under celebrated chef Raymond Blanc and at another Michelin-starred restaurant The Black Swan, learning and perfecting how to make the most of fresh, local produce.Advertisement: Kiwi CountryHe's now brought those skills home.Ethan arrived back in New Zealand at the beginning of the year and immediately set about establishing relationships with Southland farmers and growers."The produce here is still some of the best in the world."He has plans to open a 'food space'."I want a space where one night it could be a tasting menu - a five or six-course tasting menu and the next it could be a pizza night because the wheat's great and it might be the end of summer and there's loads of tomatoes around and you could make loads of sauce and there's the local cheese man that's got cheese.Advertisement: Fly & Spider Control"So have a space where the actual produce can be showcased or the farming practices can be showcased, the story of how that food got to be can be showcased to the customer - that's what I want."He says supporting the local economy is very important to him, as is direct access to producers."I would sooner go to see ten producers rather than go buy from one supplier."You might pay a little bit more but you've actually got a connection to the person making it or producing it and if I can pass that on to my guests or my customers who can then go and buy their veg or buy their milk or buy their seafood from that small producer then as a community we're growing and growing."Green tomato tart Photo: RNZ/Carol StilesMini lemon meringue taco Photo: RNZ/Carol StilesPhoto: RNZ/Carol StilesPhoto: RNZ/Carol StilesCountry LifeReporting by RNZRepublished by Arrangement

New Zealand again has 21 new community cases of Covid-19 Delta variant today, bringing the total to 72.For the second day running, 21 cases were reported, with 20 in Auckland and 1 in Wellington. The Wellington case was initially reported yesterday. Director-General of Health, Dr Ashley Bloomfield, in the 1pm press conference, said all the cases have been transferred to quarantine facilities. Of the 72 total, 61 have been confirmed as part of the Auckland cluster. The remaining 11 are under investigation, but initial observations show obvious links to the cluster for almost all of them. Advertisement: Gilligan BuildingThere are also three new cases in managed isolation.Some 8,667 individual contacts have been formally identified, virtually all are close contacts. Contract tracers have formally followed up with 4,124 and they are self isolating. Work is underway to contact the remaining 4,500 or so. There are now 280 locations of interest, a new online search map to work through them.Advertisement: Easy BinsBloomfield says there have again been positive wastewater tests in Auckland and one testing site in Wellington, linked to the cases there. "Otherwise there have been no other positive detections in our wastewater testing."Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said scanning in using the tracer app, or signing in, is set to become mandatory for most events and businesses at all alert levels. "It's clear that when people use the app, or manually sign in, rather than relying on their memory, contact tracing can happen much more quickly," Hipkins said.Advertisement: ComplEat"And as we know, particularly in light of what we're facing with the Delta variant, speed means a lot." This will become effective seven days after the alert level is downgraded and more businesses open. It is already mandatory at alert level 4."The obligation will be on the person responsible for the place or the gathering to ensure that people scan or sign in."More than 52,000 people were vaccinated yesterday, a new weekend record, bringing the total to more than one million fully vaccinated in New Zealand.Advertisement: Aparima Restaurant & BarSome 73% of people over the age of 40 have either had at least one jab, or are booked in.Hipkins said 382,500 doses of Pfizer arrived in the country yesterday, meaning there are more than 750,000 are on hand."That means we can scale up without having to worry about running out." 

There have been 21 new community cases of Covid-19 reported in New Zealand today - 20 in Auckland and one in Wellington.Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield and Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins are giving the latest Covid-19 update.Dr Bloomfield said there were now a total of 72 cases associated with the Auckland outbreak.The Wellington case was first reported yesterday but is included in the national tally today. There are now six confirmed cases in WellingtonAdvertisement: DwainsDr Bloomfield said there are 8677 contacts that have been formally identified and virtually all of those are considered 'close contacts'."The number of contacts has increased significantly, something we had expected as we identify more cases and locations of interest. As of 9am this morning, 8667 individual contacts had been formally identified and we expect that will continue to increase through the day as further records are fully processed."From today, contacts who are self-isolating can choose to send their daily health and wellbeing information via an electronic survey, that is email, rather than phone call daily. These people are all initially contacted by phone and if they opt to go for email welfare checks they can do so, which helps free up capacity in our contact tracing teams and further speed up the process," Bloomfield said.Dr Bloomfield said several new cases are linked to a service at the Samoan Assembly of God church last Sunday. Those who attended and who have not yet been tested are being asked to.From today new locations of interest will be published on the Ministry of Health website every two hours. Significant or urgent locations will be published immediately.ESR is now testing wastewater from 14 sites.There have been positive results in Auckland and Wellington. The positive result in Wellington was from Moa Point and other Wellington locations were negative.Advertisement: E Hayes & SonsHipkins said yesterday was a record day for weekend vaccinations with more than 50,000 doses administered.Hipkins said more than a million NZers were now vaccinared and 73 percent of New Zealanders over the age of 40 are either vaccinated or booked in to get the jab.Another 382,500 doses of the Pfizer Vaccine will arrive in New Zealand tomorrow, Hipkins said.Dr Bloomfield said the health system had "excellent" PPE stocks to deal with this outbreak, with national PPE supply chain holding 18 million n95 masks, 285 million medical masks, 18 million isolation gowns, 1.6 million face shields and 280 million nitrile gloves.Yesterday, 21 new community cases of Covid-19 were announced.Advertisement: Carpets & Drapes FiordlandMeanwhile, a staff member at Pukekohe High School has tested positive for Covid-19 meaning seven Auckland schools now have confirmed cases linked to them. The other five schools are: Western Springs College, Avondale College, Northcote College, Lynfield College, McAuley High School and De La Salle College.After being halted at the start of lockdown, the vaccine rollout is moving up a gear with 56,843 vaccines administered yesterday - the most in a single day.Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said 72 percent of NZers aged 40+ are either booked or have been vaccinated with at least one dose.A drive through mass-vaccination centre is open today in Auckland to make up for appointments pushed out due to the alert level 4 lockdown. The centre, set up at the park and ride site at Auckland Airport, will be open for a week and is expected to immunise 2000 people a day.More to come..Reporting by RNZRepublished by Arrangement

There have been 21 new community cases of Covid-19 reported in New Zealand today.Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Director of Public Health Caroline McElnay have given an update on the Covid-19 situation.Three of the new cases are in Wellington, while the rest are in Auckland. There are also three new Covid-19 cases to report in recent returnees today.Dr McElnay said the total number of community cases linked to the current Auckland outbreak are 51.Advertisement: Diane Wilson Todd Real EstateAll cases have been or are being transferred to managed isolation facilities using strict infection prevention and control procedures, McElnay said.Ardern said she still expected cases to rise through to next week before they started to fall away."One of the things we have learned from NSW is that the virus can keep spreading during lockdown from people going to work or people breaking the rules of the lockdown, this is one of the key reasons their case numbers keep going up and their lockdown extended."She said no one wanted an extended lockdown so to avoid this she asked everyone to "stick to your bubble".Advertisement: All TyresMore than 5000 individual contacts have been identified and the Health Ministry expects that will grow and increase by another 5000 by the end of today.The majority of those contacts are located in Auckland and Waikato regions with a small proportion located in the rest of the North Island and the South Island, said Dr McElnay.She said public health staff are rapidly interviewing cases to find out how they were infected and to determine further details of their movements."They're working tirelessly to investigate the cases."Advertisement: Freedom Companion DrivingMcElnay says isolating in alert level 4 means isolating yourself away from other household members, so when contacts get tested they need to remain isolated until they get their tests back.She said 829 Waitematā DHB staff had been tested and all results so far were negative, with 208 results pending. All patients from affected areas have returned negative tests.North Shore Hospital's emergency department remains closed and ambulances are being diverted to other Auckland emergency departments.ESR have completed genome sequencing for 29 cases - including the three announced in Wellington yesterday and they are all linked to the Auckland cluster, McElnay says.Advertisement: On Track LearningDr McElnay said there had also been Covid-19 found in wastewater testing in Warkworth, north of Auckland. Extra wastewater testing will be taken from Warkworth and Snells Beach today and tomorrow.There are 41 sites around the country where wastewater testing is being done. Covid-19 continues to be detected in Auckland's wastewater.Despite the rise in numbers, Ardern said there was some good news with New Zealand hitting two records yesterday, with the most number of vaccines and tests carried out.There were 56,843 vaccines administered yesterday - the most in a single day. Ardern said 72 percent of NZers aged 40+ are either booked or have been vaccinated with at least one dose.Advertisement: Reading Cinema"This is great progress," Ardern said.More than 150,000 vaccination bookings were made yesterday.Yesterday also saw the most Covid-19 tests processed in a single day, with 41,464 tests completed."The fact we have achieved both these results on the same day is extraordinary and is exactly what we need to do to get on top of the outbreak and for the future."Advertisement: Ten Ten Thai Street FoodThere are 14 community testing stations open across Auckland today, Ardern said.On locations of interest, Ardern said new genome sequencing information that had come out meant locations that were posted prior to 7 August were no longer locations of interest.She said if you are sick and cannot get out to the supermarket you can get family or friends to drop off food by contactless delivery."Compliance and reducing contact is critical to stopping the virus."Advertisement: World SolarOverall, compliance has been outstanding, she said.The Prime Minister yesterday announced the alert level 4 lockdown would continue until at least midnight Tuesday.Since then, new cases of the novel coronavirus have been confirmed at the University of Auckland and two more Auckland schools. In addition, the list of locations of interest has been growing.Reporting by RNZRepublished by Arrangement

New Zealand's outbreak of the Delta variant of Covid-19 remains confined to Auckland and Wellington on day four of lockdown.Director of Public Health Dr Caroline McElnay, in the 1pm update today, says there are 21 news cases today, bringing the total number of cases to 51.Of those cases 18 are in Auckland and 3 in Wellington. There has also been a positive detection of Covid-19 in wastewater sampling from the North Island coastal town of Walkworth, in the Auckland region.It serves about 3500 people.Advertisement: HalcyonThere have been no positive samples from the other 41 wastewater sites in New Zealand, outside of Auckland.So far, there are 266 close contacts around New Zealand, outside of those in Auckland. Some 5065 close contacts have been identified, while a further 5000 are expected by the end of today.Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was asked in the press conference whether she would consider ring-fencing the North Island to protect the South Island."On the issue of North and South, we actually consider all options, depending on where we have concerns," she said.Advertisement: Winton Motorcycles"So if there are places in the country that we're worried about we look at how we can practically implement borders around them, if we need to have different alert levels."So we keep all options on the table. That includes whether a boundary exists around one city, or around a whole island."Invercargill MP Penny Simmonds is urging local people to remain calm in the wake of news that some Mitre 10 Southland staff are in isolation after attending a national awards dinner where a bartender tested positive for Covid-19."At this stage those who attended the Auckland event are simply getting tested and are isolating at home. It is a precaution, they are absolutely doing the right thing and I urge people to be calm and considerate in the way they react to this news.Advertisement: Southtech"Remember, any possible infection is completely out of the control of the people who are involved and they will no doubt be feeling concerned and anxious until their results are known. "I would like to offer them my support and commend Winton Mitre 10 manager Craig Flynn for being so upfront about the situation. He posted last night on his business' Facebook page and reassured customers and contacts that he and his family were doing the right thing in isolation."We all know how concerning Covid-19 is and how very transmissible the Delta strain can be. However, I would urge people to remain calm until the official test results are made clear."The best thing that Southlanders can do at this time is to continue to follow level four restrictions and remain at home whenever possible."

The idea of sleeping on plastic bottles may not sound very inviting or comfortable, but a microfibre filling being used extensively in bedding at Southern Institute of Technology’s studentaccommodation units, is made from exactly that - 100% recycled plastic bottles - providing warmth and comfort to hundreds of students and assisting in sustainability for the well-being of the planet.SIT recently received certification from Vendella to acknowledge they’ve been responsible for recycling nearly 87,000 plastic bottles, in a zero-waste process, through their purchasing ofVendella’s recycled PET plastic bedding products.Timaru based, Vendella is an NZ owned and operated family business, which provides commercial linen to the hospitality, accommodation and care sectors across New Zealand.As part of their commitment to environmental sustainability, the company started The Dream Green Initiative – its main focus was to source recycled polyester and microfibre for their range of filled bedding products.Advertisement: Money TalksMichael Boakes, Business Development Team Leader at Vendella, said, “Around 2015 we started using the recycled PET bottle microfibre and since then, we have sourced all of our filled beddingproducts utilising this.”Although the processing of the bottles and manufacturing of the microfibre occurs offshore, usually in Asia, – it requires some high-tech machinery to transform the bottles into bedding material – Mr Boakes says what’s important to them as a company is providing solutions and making sustainability easy, to help other NZ businesses achieve their corporate environmental responsibility goals.“This process removes the need to manufacture more virgin polyester and microfibre. The important thing for us as a business is we’re not creating more new plastic, and this is a big deal – there is too much waste produced in NZ – so if we can make a difference, we will do what we can to achieve this.”SIT uses pillows, duvet inners quilted mattress and pillow protectors and mattress toppers from the Dream Green range in its student accommodation in Invercargill, Queenstown and Telford (Balclutha), and also at their Beauty Therapy rooms.Advertisement: First in WindsorPaul Watts, SIT Accommodation Manager, says it is rewarding to be involved with Vendella and aligning with their sound sustainability practices through the supply of essential items such as the bedding provided to international students.Each Dream 900gm pillow purchased contains twenty-eight recycled plastic bottles, and for every eight of these pillows supplied to businesses, as an added extra, Vendella partners with Keep New Zealand Beautiful to fund the planting of an NZ native seedling.“SIT has been purchasing Welcome (bedding) packs to give to our International students for seven years and over this time, we have purchased over 2,500 pillows, which equates to around 312 NZ native trees being planted,” Mr Watts said.Advertisement: Moana Court MotelThrough the Dream Green initiative, 3,500 native trees have been planted so far, said Mr Boakes.“All this wouldn’t be possible without businesses supporting Dream Green through purchasing our microfibre-filled products, so we would like to take this opportunity to thank SIT and all our other customers who are helping to reduce waste within NZ,” he added.

The accidental creator of the famous pancakes, Crêpes Suzette, was a 14-year-old boy, Henri Charpentier.He was cooking a crêpe sauce for a special restaurant customer, Albert, Prince of Wales.The sauce — a combination of citrus, sugar, butter and various liqueurs accidently caught on fire.Henri thought his sauce was ruined but when tasted, it was delectable!He plunged the crêpes into the sauce and served them — much to Albert's delight.The creation was named after a little girl present at the dinner.Thus Crêpes Suzette were born.Pancakes come in varying shapes and sizes.Crêpes are thin and light.Thin Asian pancakes are usually a savoury combo.American pancakes are thick and puffy.Pikelet-sized pancakes can be sweet or savoury.Russian Blini are also pikelet-size.Choose a small to medium-sized heavy frying pan which is slightly rounded between the base and the sides.Use about a quarter teaspoon of butter and brush over the base — or use a spray oil. Heat the pan and test by letting a few drops of water fall on the base.If the water sputters, the pan is ready to use; if it sits and boils it is not hot enough; if it vanishes, the pan is too hot.Advertisement: Fiordland MarineAdvertise on the Southland AppVIETNAMESE PANCAKES WITH PRAWNSNuoc Mam sauce is available from most supermarkets and Asian food stores. Serve rice on the side.50g (5 tablespoons) rice flour1 teaspoons ground turmeric100ml each: coconut milk, watergood pinch each: flaky sea salt, caster sugarFilling: 300g large raw prawnssalt and pepper to tasterice bran oil for frying2 small shallots, diced1 cup bean sprouts1 large spring onion, finely slicedSalad: 8 small crisp lettuce leaves1 cup fresh herbs: eg basil, mint, corianderNuoc Mam sauce To make the pancake, whisk the rice flour, turmeric, coconut milk, water, salt and sugar in a bowl until smooth and the consistency of cream.To make the filling, devein the prawns and cut in half lengthwise, Season.  Heat 2-3 teaspoons of the oil in a 16-18cm non-stick frying pan. Sauté the shallots and prawns for 1 minute, until the prawns are pink. Add the bean sprouts and spring onion and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Remove and keep warm.Wipe the pan clean. Add a little oil and heat. Add 3-4 tablespoons of the batter and swirl to coat the pan. Cook until golden brown on the base. Flip over and cook for 30 seconds then remove. Repeat to make 4 pancakes.Place the filling on one half of the pancakes and fold over to enclose. Serve with the salad. Use the lettuce and herbs to hold some of the pancake. Dip in the Nuoc Mam sauce and enjoy. Serves 4 as a light meal.VEGETABLE PIKELETSGreat enjoyed spread with cream cheese and topped with twists of smoked salmon.1 1/2 tablespoons rice bran oil, divided1 cup baby spinach leaves, finely sliced1 small shallot, diced1/2 cup each: frozen corn kernels (thawed), grated carrot1 1/2 cups self-raising floursalt and pepper to taste1 1/2 cups buttermilk1 egg, lightly beaten1/2 cup grated tasty cheeseHeat 2 teaspoons of the oil in a non-stick frying pan. Add the spinach, shallot, corn and carrot and sauté until softened. Set aside Sift the flour, salt and pepper into a bowl. Add the buttermilk and egg. Whisk to combine. Add the vegetable mixture and cheese. Add a little milk if too thick.Brush a non-stick frying pan with the oil. Place heaped tablespoons of the mixture into the pan cooking 4-5 pikelets at a time. cook until bubbles appear on top. Flip over. Cook for about 2 minutes, until golden and cooked through. Repeat. Makes about 22.FLUFFY AMERICAN PANCAKESServe as a dessert with fresh fruit drizzled with maple syrup and topped with whipped cream. Or serve at brunch with avocado, bacon and maple syrup.1 1/4 cups self-raising flour1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar1 tablespoon caster sugar1/4 teaspoon salt2 large eggs, separated1 1/4 — 1 1/2 cups buttermilkbutter for cookingCombine the flour, cream of tartar, caster sugar and salt in a bowl. Make a well in the centre and add the egg yolk. Mix well. Slowly whisk in the buttermilk until the mixture is smooth.Whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold into the batter 2-3 tablespoons at a time. The batter should be airy.Using a paper towel, wipe a large non-stick frying pan generously with butter. Drop 2 tablespoons of the batter onto the pan so it makes a pancake about 8cm in diameter. Repeat making as many as you can fit comfortably on the pan. Cook until bubbles appear on the top. Flip over and cook until golden on the base. Repeat until all the batter is used. Makes about 12 pancakes.CREPES SUZETTENo liqueurs? Use brandy.Crepes: 3 eggs2 tablespoons flour1 tablespoon each: water, milkpinch salt25g butterSauce: 3cm square piece each lemon and orange peels (pith removed) 1 teaspoon sugar75g butter4 tablespoons each: maraschino, curacao, kirsch liqueursWhisk the eggs, flour, water, milk and salt in a bowl until the mixture reaches the consistency of thin cream. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.Melt a small knob of butter in a crêpe pan. Add enough batter to thinly cover the base. Keep the pan moving for about 1 minute then turn the crêpe. Turn 3-4 times until lightly browned. Fold the crêpe in quarters. Repeat with the remaining mixture.  To make the sauce, julienne the peels and add the sugar. Stand for several hours for the flavours to develop.Melt the butter in a frying pan. When bubbling, add 2 tablespoons each of the liqueurs. Flame then add the citrus rinds. Plunge the crêpes into the sauce turning to coat well. Add the remaining liqueur. Serves 4.

Invercargill’s Queens Park is a finalist in the annual Beautiful Awards, competing with four other special spots from throughout New Zealand for the Kiwi’s Choice award.The Beautiful Awards are New Zealand’s longest-running sustainability awards and provide a benchmark for environmental excellence.Invercargill City Council Parks and Recreation manager Caroline Rain said the whole team was excited its amazing workplace had been nominated.“To receive this recognition means so much for a team who put their heart and soul into maintaining, beautifying and showcasing this treasure of gardens, play areas, aviaries and animals in the heart of Invercargill,” she said.Queens Park is a finalist in the Kiwi’s Choice section of the awards, up against Dudding Lake in Marton, the Great Lake Pathway in Taupō and the Jim Barker Playground and Lake Huiputea, both in Otorohanga.Advertisement: Tower LodgeLast year’s winner, Ruakuri Bush Walk, Waitomo, is rated as one of the best short walks in New Zealand - a spectacular loop walk through a forested gorge, past natural sculpted cliffs and under low limestone arches with glowworms visible at night.The team have now been tasked with making a short video to be shown at the annual Beautiful Ball Awards dinner at Auckland Zoo, where the winners will be announced.Keep New Zealand Beautiful’s Beautiful Awards have run annually since 1972, and aim to inspire, recognise and acknowledge those individuals, schools, community groups, towns and cities working passionately to Keep New Zealand Beautiful.Advertisement: Number Works & Words“We so often hear how lucky Invercargill is to have such an incredibly stunning green space for our people to relax, recreate and unwind in,” Mrs Rain said.“We are truly grateful to be a part of this place.”“Our team is well-placed to continue to look after our city and its people. We’ve done this before and we’ll do it again,” she said.

New Zealand will be in lockdown for at least another four days.Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has just announced that Alert Level 4 will continue nationwide until 11.59pm on Tuesday, August 24.Cabinet will meet on Monday to make a decision whether it needs to be extended beyond then.Ardern said: "As you can see from the update, we are in a reasonable position.Advertisement: Rabco Ag"But I need to stress that it is early days and there is a lot we don't know."At this stage there were no random cases popping up, she said, so the Ministry were beginning to identify the edges of the outbreak.But, she said, with Delta it is too soon to draw any conclusions, especially as the locations of interest included bars, schools and churches, known to increase the spread.Hundreds who had been at locations of interest were now isolating across the country, including South Island.Advertisement: Laser Electrical Gore"We are still waiting on a large number of contacts to be tested," she said."We just don't quite know the full scale of this Delta outbreak. All in all this tells us we need to continue to be cautious."Therefore the lockdown extension was necessary, bringing the total to seven days.Ardern said it is likely Auckland, the centre of the outbreak, will need to be locked down longer, and possibly Coromandel."It's difficult for us to say how long at this stage. That's why we'll come back in, report in on Monday, for the whole country, including Auckland."There are 11 new cases of Covid-19 in the community today, bringing the total to 31.Three of the cases are in Wellington, with the remainder in Auckland. The Wellington cases had recently travelled to Auckland and visited a location of interest there.Advertisement: Southland Home VentilationDirector-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said there are 162 close contacts identified throughout rest of New Zealand, as of 2pm today."As expected . . . people who have been in locations of interest in Auckland have dispersed right throughout the country."Some 642 close contacts have been identified in the Auckland and Waikato regions.More follows.

Forest and Bird has responded to criticism from Invercargill MP Penny Simmonds over its plans to challenge coal exploration in Western Southland.The environmental organisation is taking Southland District Council to court over its decision to grant Bathurst Resources Limited consent to explore for a new coal mine on council land near Nightcaps.Simmonds, earlier this month, said that action was premature."Forest & Bird is being overhasty in its legal action against the SDC," Simmonds said.Advertisement: McKnight & Brown"The council has simply granted exploratory access to the land at this time – any future removal of coal would still require a new publicly notified resource consent process."For Forest & Bird to seek a judicial review of a decision which is yet to actually involve coal mining is premature and heavy-handed, because decent Southlanders could face a hefty legal bill."It’s also disappointing that Forest & Bird has chosen litigation in the first instance, before even approaching the council with its concerns."Simmonds made the comments on the day before the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its 'code red for humanity' report into global warming.Advertisement: Te Anau PanelbeatersShe highlighted the fact NZ imported more coal last year than it has in 14 years, and is likely to break that record this year."Of course we must transition to more sustainable energy sources, no one is debating that, but in the meantime if we’re not producing coal here it’s likely it will be imported into our country anyway."But F&B Chief Executive Kevin Hague tells the Southland App: "We can either have a planet that future generations are able live on or we can have continued coal mining."Penny Simmonds needs to decide which of these she supports, and perhaps had better check with her senior colleagues before doing so, given that the Independent Climate Change Commission, which along with, for example, the IEA [International Energy Agency], has said that coal mining must stop, was a National Party proposal."