Today there are no new cases of COVID-19 to report.
It has now been 87 days since the last case of COVID-19 was acquired locally from an unknown source.
The total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 remains at 1206, which is the number we report to the World Health Organization.
There are no new recovered cases today, which means the total number of active cases in New Zealand’s managed isolation and quarantine facilities remains at 21.
There is no one in New Zealand receiving hospital-level care for COVID-19.
Yesterday our laboratories completed 550 tests, bringing the total number of tests completed to date to 456,227. 270 of these were swabs completed from managed isolation and quarantine facilities.
We regularly see lower testing rates at weekends. Additionally, the country enjoyed a generally mild weekend of weather, which continues to contribute to unusually low levels of people presenting with flu-like symptoms and respiratory issues.
This week, we will be continuing to support the effort to increase the amount of community-based testing for people with respiratory symptoms.
There are three areas of action underway, with the Ministry working closely with the Colleges of GPs, Urgent Care and Emergency Medicine and their members to offer testing to all people who present with symptoms.
The second area of focus is working with the district health boards to ensure testing is widely available, including at general practices and community-based assessment centres.
Thirdly, as New Zealanders we all have a part to play and the Ministry encourages anyone who is offered a swab, to take up that offer.
Testing remains an important part of our overall strategy to detect any community cases of COVID-19 as quickly as possible.
It’s also important to remember the basic public health measures which keep communities protected: staying home if you’re sick, frequent hand-washing, and good sneeze and cough etiquette.
