2 New Cases Of COVID-19

Today we are reporting two new confirmed cases of COVID-19.

One case is linked to the St Margaret’s Hospital & Rest Home in Auckland. The individual is not a healthcare worker - they are a household contact of an earlier case linked to St Margaret's. They have been in self-isolation since that case was notified.

The second is a person who has travelled back from overseas, so is an imported case.

Today’s cases bring New Zealand’s combined total of confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases to 1,494.

This is made up of 1,144 confirmed cases, which is the number we report to the World Health Organization, and 350 probable cases.

We now have 1,371 people reported as having recovered from COVID-19, an increase of 3 on yesterday. This is 92% of all confirmed and probable cases.

Today there are again two people in hospital with COVID-19 – one each in Middlemore and North Shore hospitals. Neither is in ICU.

We still have 16 significant clusters, four of which are now closed. The number of cases linked to the Ruby Princess cruise ship increases by 1, due to the linking of an existing case.

There are no additional deaths to report.

Yesterday our laboratories processed 7,287 tests, bringing the total number of tests completed to date to 190,326.

Sincere thanks to the health sector staff across the system who have taken swabs, ensured swabs are accurately recorded and transported and have processed these rapidly in our labs. Their hard work over the last two and half months has been a key pillar of our response and success to date.

World Health Organization
We are aware of comments made by the World Health Organization at a recent media conference.

At the media conference, the WHO Health Emergencies Programme executive director Dr Michael Ryan spoke to the systematic approach New Zealand has taken, the evolution of our public health measures, as well as our case finding, our contact tracing and our testing.

Dr Ryan’s positive comments confirm the significance of the commitment made by all New Zealanders to tackling COVID-19.

Level 3
We reaffirm the message from yesterday that New Zealand remains at Alert Level 3, as we prepare for a possible move to Alert Level 2.

Today’s two cases remind us that COVID-19 is a tricky virus and it will keep exploiting any opportunity to infiltrate our communities.

Please, continue to follow the rules for Alert Level 3 and play it safe. Slackening off now only gives COVID-19 unnecessary opportunities to re-establish itself in New Zealand.

Please, keep your distance from others when outside your bubble, particularly when you’re in recreational or leisure environments such as beaches or parks.

Keep working and learning from home.

And stay local, travelling only within your region.

Thank you New Zealand - let's not squander all the hard work

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