From page 1 // Jab rate rises, no new cases

Zealand, but that’s their point of view, and we need to respect that too.’’

Nelson Marlborough Health confirmed there were 249 tests for Covid-19 taken in Marlborough on Monday, which brought the long Labour Weekend total to 664 tests. To compare, the Saturday before, on October 16, there were 40 tests.

Yesterday there were 114 tests taken by 2pm.

And Marlborough, on 80 per cent double doses, was only slightly behind Auckland, on 81 per cent.

The Ministry of Health said interviews were continuing this week with the Blenheim case, currently in isolation with two household contacts who both returned negative tests on Sunday. A third contact tested negative on Monday, and was also in isolation.

The Waikato man, in his 20s, had stayed overnight in Tokoroa on Wednesday, before flying from Rotorua to Wellington and on to Blenheim on Thursday morning. He was unvaccinated.

The ministry had not yet confirmed whether the man breached an alert level boundary, saying health officials were focused on identifying potential exposure events.

One or both of the household contacts picked the Waikato man up from Marlborough Airport, between 9am and 9.30am, the ministry said.

The ministry published a list of locations of interest, including six Blenheim shops and Kiwicamp in Riverlands, where he spent the night.

He had sought a Covid test due to a sore throat after arriving in Blenheim, the ministry said.

The case, the first in the South Island since 2020, had been described as ‘‘low risk’’ as the man appeared to be in the late stage of infection, and told authorities he was wearing a mask while at locations of interest in Blenheim.

The ministry said interviews suggested the positive case in Blenheim was linked to Waikato’s Te Awamutu cluster.

While there were no new cases in Blenheim, there were four new cases confirmed yesterday in the Te Awamutu/kihikihi area, bringing the total in Waikato to 91 during this outbreak.

Two bakeries in Tokoroa were also added as locations of interest, connected with the Blenheim case.

Parts of Waikato remained in lockdown until today, when it would be reviewed again.