News
Yesterday, there were 29 new confirmed and probable cases, bringing the total cases in the country to 1312, while two more deaths were announced. Both of the deaths were linked to an identified cluster.
The deaths include a man in his 80s who died at Wellington Hospital and a man in his 70s who died at Burwood Hospital in Christchurch.
There have been no additional deaths today.
Fourteen people are in hospital. 5 are in ICU – one of those is in a critical condition in Dunedin
An additional 49 people have recovered, bringing the total number of recovered people to 471.
The Director-General of Health is providing an update on the Covid-19 response and cases in New Zealand.
Watch Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield provide an update at a media conference:
Bloomfield said the Ministry of Health and district health boards have been working closely with aged care residential facilities on Covid-19 for some time.
He said he wrote to DHBs yesterday asking them to systematically assess all residential care providers in their areas and their plans for protecting staff and residents, including a stocktake of Personal Protection Equipment.
Related:
https://whatsoninvers.nz/no-new-covid-19-cases-in-cluthasouthland-2/
Five cases in the Spectrum Care cluster were staff numbers, he said, and there was no need for concern among people who used services provided by Spectrum. The total number of cases in the cluster is 28.
Bloomfield said the New Zealanders returning from the Greg Mortimer cruise ship were all considered to be high-risk, considering the circumstances they were in, and would be assessed and isolated accordingly. However, he said none of them so far are unwell to the extent they would require hospitalisation.
Healthline has reported that some of the people calling have quite serious symptoms, and Bloomfield said people should not hesitate to call their own GP and seek medical attention in a timely manner.
Globally, there have been more than 1.6 million confirmed cases, with the death toll surpassing 106,000, according to Reuters.
More to come…
- If you have symptoms of the coronavirus, call the NZ Covid-19 Healthline on 0800 358 5453 (+64 9 358 5453 for international SIMs) or call your GP – don’t show up at a medical centre