New Zealand reports 13 new community cases of COVID-19 Delta variant

New Zealand reported 13 new community cases of Delta variant of COVID-19 on Thursday, all in the largest city Auckland, which brought the total number of cases in the country’s community outbreak to 868.

Of the current community cases, 31 cases are in hospital, including five cases in intensive care units (ICUs) or high dependency units (HDUs), Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield told a press conference.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said more than a quarter of a million additional doses of the Pfizer vaccine are on their way from Spain to New Zealand . The additional doses will arrive in Auckland on Friday to help meet the current surge in demand for vaccination.

“We’re vaccinating well ahead of plan and these additional vaccines will ensure we can continue to ramp up our vaccination program,” Ardern said, adding that the Spanish shipment is in addition to New Zealand’s regular weekly delivery from Pfizer vaccine which is also expected this weekend.

The prime minister said the government is expected to make a further announcement about an agreement to buy additional Pfizer vaccines from a second country next week.

Areas outside Auckland moved to Alert Level 2 from 11:59 p.m. local time Tuesday, which means businesses and schools are back to normal, with masks mandatory in certain settings and gatherings limited to 50 people in size.

Auckland will remain at Level 4 for at least another week. New Zealand moved to a lockdown on Aug. 17 after the first COVID-19 Delta variant case in the Auckland community was identified.