News
The All of Government COVID-19 National Response will provide two updates today: one at 1.00 pm, and a second update at 3.00 pm.
Speakers:
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
Dr Ashley Bloomfield, Director-General of Health.
- Today we have two new confirmed cases and one new probable cases of Covid-19, said Director General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield.
- Laboratories processed a record 6480 tests yesterday and now processed 101,277 tests for Covid-19. Today’s cases linked to existing cases.
- Sadly I have two new deaths to report, a patient died in intensive care in Dunedin Hospital, she was in her 60s and had a underlying health condition. Arrangements were made for her family to be with her last night as she passed away.
- The second death is a resident at Rosewood Rest Home, he was in his 70s and passed away in the hospital wing of Rosewood, had not been transferred to Burwood Hospital. He had an underlying condition and while he had tested negative for Covid-19, he was treated as a probable case, Dr Bloomfield said.
- There are eight people in hospital with Covid-19, one is in ICU in Middlemore Hospital – still the same 16 significant clusters, four additional cases linked to those clusters.
- Hospitals remain open for emergency and acute care heading into alert level 3, some elective services including surgery and radiology will be provided under alert level 3, more details will come. In age residential care, only visits for compassionate and palliative reasons will be considered and that will be on a case by case basis.
- General practices will continue to be open under alert level 3 and will continue to conduct virtual consultations as much as possible. Pharmacies remain open, dental services may provide urgent face to face appointments under alert level 3 but not routine dental care.
- Community midwives will continue to work both virtually and sometimes face to face in the community. There will be an allowance for some face to face services for physiotherapy, paediatry and so on under level 3, but will continue to use virtual consultations as much as possible.
- Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern commended the work done by Civil Defence saying the director of Civil Defence Emergency Management Sarah Stuart-Black would give an update later today on what CD groups across the country have been doing to support vulnerable New Zealanders.
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We’ve been working hard to ensure we’ve been meeting need where it exists which is why yesterday we put another $30 million into our Civil Defence groups, so they can keep providing food parcels, household goods and accommodation where it’s required – that follows assistance of $27m put in to support that work. - While Covid-19 may seem like a different type of event to floods and fires, the role of Civil Defence is very much the same, Ardern said.
- 16 local CD groups coordinating across govt, iwi and other agencies, she said.
- There is an 0800 number for every group that people can call if they’re out of supplies or struggling to get food.