We are at Level 4 of New Zealand’s four-level COVID-19 alert system. It is likely Level 4 measures will stay in place for a number of weeks. More information on alert levels.
- Everyone must now stay home, except those providing essential services.
- Only make physical contact with those that you live with.
Government COVID-19 Response Briefing
Speakers:
- Sarah Stuart-Black, Director of Civil Defence Emergency Management – update on COVID-19 national response
- Dr Caroline McElnay, Director of Public Health – health update.
Ministry of Health Update:
- 47 new confirmed cases and 14 probable cases.
- 708 total cases
- 82 recovered
- 14 cases in hospital, 2 in ICU
- New case definition for health professionals to test possible Covid-19 cases will be released this afternoon
- Testing capacity is currently 3700 tests
- Community transmission was about 1 per cent of total cases, with the most linked to overseas travel. But the ministry was trying to get a better sense of community spread through testing.
- The over-riding answer seems to be that they don’t have the information. Begs the question; Why are we even bothering with these briefings?
- “We’re developing a surveillance plan for Covid-19,” McElnay said. This might include surveys of people for symptoms. Why wasn’t this plan ready to go?
Civil Defence Update:
- Iwi and Maori organisation were mobilising to support their communities. Apparently Maori are a special case COVID-19 needing more spending on them than other New Zealanders.
- First flight yesterday took 57 people back to cities in their region, and another flight would run this afternoon.
- All go into self-isolation when they get off at the site,
- The travellers received health checks prior to boarding the flight.
- The extension of the national emergency, which happened yesterday, was to ensure the Government continued to have the powers needed to deal with the emergency. The state of emergency only lasts seven days under law (it’s not the lockdown or Covid-19 alert level, which is separate), and will continue to be extended as required.
Yesterday’s details.
- No new deaths
- 58 new cases, 48 new confirmed, 10 probable
- 74 recovered
- 14 in hospital. 2 in ICU, stable.
- 1777 average tests per day over last 7 days
- 647 total cases
COVID-19 – current cases
Summary
| Total to date | New in last 24 hours | |
|---|---|---|
| Number of confirmed cases in New Zealand | 647 | 47 |
| Number of probable cases | 61 | 14 |
| Number of confirmed and probable cases | 708 | 61 |
| Number of cases in hospital | – | |
| Number of recovered cases | 82 | 8 |
| Number of deaths | 1 |
View full details of the confirmed cases.
View details of significant COVID-19 clusters.
Confirmed and probable cases by DHB
Download the Map of confirmed and probable cases by DHB (PDF, 282 KB).
| DHB | Total cases |
|---|---|
| Auckland | 104 |
| Bay of Plenty | 18 |
| Canterbury | 52 |
| Capital and Coast | 60 |
| Counties Manukau | 53 |
| Hawke’s Bay | 16 |
| Hutt Valley | 14 |
| Lakes | 11 |
| MidCentral | 13 |
| Nelson Marlborough | 22 |
| Northland | 11 |
| South Canterbury | 10 |
| Southern | 108 |
| Tair?whiti | 1 |
| Taranaki | 14 |
| Waikato | 91 |
| Wairarapa | 6 |
| Waitemata | 98 |
| West Coast | 3 |
| Whanganui | 3 |
| Total | 708 |
Ethnicity percentages of all cases
| Ethnicity | No. of cases |
|---|---|
| Asian | 53 |
| European or Other | 510 |
| M?ori | 46 |
| Middle Eastern / Latin American / African | 19 |
| Pacific People | 19 |
| Unknown | 61 |
Transmission
This information refers to the 708 confirmed and probable cases as at 9.00 am 1 April 2020.
| Source of transmission | % of cases |
|---|---|
| Recent overseas travel | 51% |
| Contact with known case | 30% |
| Community transmission | 1% |
| Source under investigation | 18% |
Lab testing
| Lab testing | Tests | Date range |
|---|---|---|
| 7-day rolling average | 1,843 (per day) | 25 – 31 March 2020 |
| Total lab tests to date | 23,481 | 3 – 31 March 2020 |