Kia ora Anna 

 

 

Thank you for your email. Responses to your questions are listed below: 

 

1/ How many current positive cases of the Delta Variant are vaccinated.
2/ How many current positive cases of the Delta Variant are not
vaccinated.
3/ How many people are in hospital who have been vaccinated.
4/ How many people are in hospital who have not been vaccinated.
 

Data on the vaccination status of the current COVID-19 cases in New
Zealand as at 9am 6 September 2021 is outlined in the table below: 

 

Number of cases in Percentage of cases
Vaccinations received  outbreak  in outbreak 
Unvaccinated  682  83.10% 
One dose only  102  12.40% 
Both doses  37  4.50% 
Total  821  100 

Please note that any further information regarding current cases
vaccination or hospitalisation status is withheld under section 9(2)(a) of
the Official Information Act (the Act) to protect the privacy of natural
persons as this is regarded as personal medical information. 

 
5/ What is the PCR cycle threshold currently being used in NZ
laboratories?
6/ Is the same CT being used for both vaccinated individuals and
unvaccinated individuals? 

 

The below information was provided to me by ESR: 

 

ESR’s PCR assays are set to cycle for 45 amplification cycles. However,
the cut-off for calling a result as positive is equal and below 40
amplification cycles and only when it has also been confirmed by a second
target PCR which became positive equal or below 40 cycles. 

7/ Seeing as we know that there is a high risk of false positives using a
PCR test, (as various legal cases have confirmed), what tests are being
carried out on positive cases, to confirm a clinical diagnosis?

 

The risk of reporting false positives using a PCR test is extremely low in
New Zealand because all positives results are confirmed in the  accredited
diagnostic laboratories where the testing is undertaken.  Additionally,
all positive samples are sent for Whole Genome Sequencing which provides
an additional opportunity for confirmation of the result.

8/ Are specimens taken from community members to test for infections,
being matched with Delta viral proteins that have been taken from human
tissue, and isolated under an electron microscope? 

 

No, they are not.  

 

Under section 28(3) of the Act you have the right to ask the Ombudsman to
review any decisions made under this request. The Ombudsman may be
contacted by email at: [1][email address] or by calling 0800
802 602. 

  

Nāku noa, nā 

  

Nick Allan, Manager 

OIA Services Team

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Anna McAfee <[FOI #16646 email]>
Sent: Tuesday, 7 September 2021 09:53
To: OIA Requests <[email address]>
Subject: Official Information request - Current Positive Cases of the
Delta Variant

 

Dear Ministry of Health,

Can you please provide numbers for the following;

1/ How many current positive cases of the Delta Variant are vaccinated.
2/ How many current positive cases of the Delta Variant are not
vaccinated.
3/ How many people are in hospital who have been vaccinated.
4/ How many people are in hospital who have not been vaccinated.

5/ What is the PCR cycle threshold currently being used in NZ
laboratories?
6/ Is the same CT being used for both vaccinated individuals and
unvaccinated individuals?

7/ Seeing as we know that there is a high risk of false positives using a
PCR test, (as various legal cases have confirmed), what tests are being
carried out on positive cases, to confirm a clinical diagnosis?
[2]https://scanmail.trustwave.com/?c=15517&...

8/ Are specimens taken from community members to test for infections,
being matched with Delta viral proteins that have been taken from human
tissue, and isolated under an electron microscope?

Yours faithfully,

Anna McAfee

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