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A map shared by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern at Monday’s lockdown announcement shows close contacts of infected cases isolating in Wairarapa.
Wairarapa MP Kieran McAnulty confirmed this after the Prime Minister’s 4pm briefing.
“According to the map, Wairarapa has a surprisingly large number of contacts on the list who have been required to isolate,” he said.
“It would have been irresponsible in my view for Wairarapa to move out of Level 4 while we are in such close proximity to Wellington and have people in the region who have been … identified as a close contact.
“The evidence shows it would be too much of a risk to drop down a level at this stage.”
There are eight confirmed covid cases in the Wellington area so far.
Ardern confirmed New Zealand would stay in Level 4 until at least Friday night. Auckland will remain at level 4 until 11.59pm on Tuesday, August 31.
“We are taking a more cautious approach. There are known contacts of infected cases across New Zealand,” she said.
McAnulty said there were few regions that did not have contacts associated with them, but expected that by Friday, the government would be in a better position to make further decisions.
“People will have been able to have tests and the results will help the government make decisions with greater confidence.”
Tests results were being turned around as quickly as 48 hours, with low positivity rates.
“The thousands of tests being processed every day is a testament to the hard work of our health professionals and should also give us confidence,” he said.
