New Zealand reported 20 new community cases of covid-19 today, according to the Ministry of Health.
Speaking at today’s government briefing, Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said 79 people had now recovered and the total number of active cases had dropped to 722.
Dr Bloomfield said the fall in numbers showed the lockdown was slowing the spread of the virus
There were also 20 new community cases – and one death – reported yesterday, while 28 new cases were reported on Friday.
All of the new cases reported today are in Auckland.
Dr Bloomfield said 38 people were in Auckland hospitals — six of of them in ICU or HDU and four were being ventilated.
“Our thoughts remain with these individuals who are unwell and indeed with their families in what is a stressful time.”
Dr Bloomfield expressed condolences to the family of the 90-year-old woman who had died and endorsed their message – “this is real”.
He said there were 38,120 individuals in the contact tracing system. This is 1 in 130 New Zealanders, which shows the precautionary approach to the outbreak.
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Video: RNZ News
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
