New Zealand's deputy PM Winston Peters has sided with the opposition to ask Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to postpone the country's election.
Auckland's COVID-19 cluster is yet to trend down, with New Zealand health authorities announcing 12 fresh community cases of the virus on Sunday.
The upswing from Saturday's seven cases means the total cases in the outbreak, NZ's first after 102 virus-free days, stands at 49.
A thirteenth case is an overseas traveller in quarantine.
The new cases bring the number of active cases in New Zealand to 69. Since the start of the year, the country has recorded 1,271 cases, Bloomfield said.
The outbreak has prompted calls for Ms Ardern to delay the poll beyond the scheduled 19 September date.
On Sunday, Mr Peters dramatically intervened in the debate just hours before Ms Ardern was due to announce her decision, revealing he wrote to her on Friday outlining "real concerns about the state of preparedness of the Electoral Commission".
"Our health response must come first and politics second. That remains our view as the case numbers rise each day," Mr Peters said.
"There is now no ability to conduct a free and fair election if the Prime Minister decides to hold the General Election on 19 September.
"New Zealand First believes we risk undermining the legitimacy of the election result, creating an awful precedent which could be abused by the Prime Minister's successors."
Together, the opposition National party and government partners New Zealand First, amount to a parliamentary majority, which could force Ms Ardern's hand.
In a shambolic press conference late on Sunday, the 75-year-old halted questions as he thought he heard a possum inside Parliament House.
Mr Peters said he retained confidence in the government, which should avert a constitutional mess.
Ms Ardern is due to announce her decision at 10am NZST (8am AEST) on Monday, ahead of the already once-deferred dissolution of Parliament.
The Labour leader announced 19 September as her chosen polling day back in February, before the arrival of COVID-19 to New Zealand.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern (L) and Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield. Source: TVNZ
National leader, and alternative PM, Judith Collins, said deferring the election to November, or even next year, was "the right and fair thing to do".
"1.7 million New Zealanders are in lockdown at the moment and can't go about their normal business. They're worried about their health and their businesses," she told TVNZ.
The Electoral Commission has stated it can run the poll safely under alert 'level two' conditions - which include social distancing and caps on gatherings.
Auckland is currently under a 'level three' lockdown, while the rest of New Zealand has been placed at 'level two' settings.
Both settings are due to expire on 26 August.
That leaves just 10 days for parties to resume their campaigning in New Zealand's biggest city and for the first advance polling stations to open.
Recent polling has Ms Ardern on track for a runaway victory, with both National and NZ First struggling.
'Frustrating' work to find the source of the outbreak
Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield has pledged to discover the source of the outbreak.
The Auckland branch of freight business Americold has been identified as a possible source, given an employee there showed the "earliest onset date symptoms" according to Dr Bloomfield.
"We're doing the environmental testing. It may be a long shot but we're working with our Victorian counterparts ... there may well be no link but its one to exclude."
Victoria's Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said there was "no evidence" of an epidemiological link between the Australian state and the NZ outbreak.
Mr Andrews said he would share information with Dr Bloomfield's team to help identify the source.
"The labs are talking and we're doing everything possible to be as helpful as we can," he said.
"It hasn't provided an answer to this point, which I know will be very frustrating for them.
"But the very best of minds are continuing to work as hard as they can."
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