Today there are 32 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 22 new probable cases. There are no additional deaths to report.
There are now 241 reported cases which we can confirm have recovered.
The combined total of confirmed and probable cases in New Zealand is 1160 – this is 54 more than yesterday.
Today there are 12 people in hospital, including 4 in ICU – 1 in Wellington, 1 in Waitemata, 1 in Counties Manukau and 1 in Southern. 1 is in a critical condition. One person has been discharged since our update yesterday.
For those cases we have information on, we are still seeing a strong link to overseas travel (42%), as well as links to confirmed cases within New Zealand (41%) including those in clusters we already know about and community transmission (2%).
The ethnicity breakdown of the confirmed cases is:
- European or other – 73.3%
- Asian – 8.5%
- Unknown – 6.9%
- Māori – 7.8%
- Pacific peoples – 3.4%.
More details are available on our Current cases page.
Testing
We continue to encourage comprehensive testing across the country.
From our lab numbers, we can report a 7 day rolling average of tests at 3063 per day.
The total of lab tests to date is 42,826 and 2908 tests were carried out yesterday.
Our test capacity continues to increase and we have supplies in stock for nearly 44,000 tests. We expect to have between 50,000 to 60,000 complete tests in stock by the end of the week.
We have 50,000 nasal swabs in stock and we are expecting 250,000 more from a local supplier within the next 3-4 weeks.
Masks
The World Health Organisation yesterday provided updated advice on mask use – particularly by the general public.
The WHO does not recommend the use of medical masks by the general public except in particular circumstances – where someone is sick and wearing a mask protects others or when someone is caring for a sick person and the mask can help protect them.
Essential health treatment
Under Alert Level 4 people can access essential and necessary medical care. Where needed that includes being able to travel both locally or across regions to access appropriate treatments.
A reminder too that people should continue to access health care services when they need them. This especially applies to people that need urgent attention.
Please follow the usual mechanisms for help – contact your GP or call for an ambulance in an emergency.
Health services continue to have capacity to provide treatment. Healthline’s normal line is
