Two new Covid-19 cases for Hawke's Bay

Hawke's Bay has two new cases of Covid-19. Photo File

Hawke's Bay has two more cases of Covid-19

Forty new cases of coronavirus were announced in New Zealand today, two of which were from Hawke's Bay.

One was a female in her 70s, on a flight from Barcelona via Dubai to Auckland, who arrived on 18 March, flight EK448, Auckland to Napier on 19 March – flight NZ5021.

The other new case was a male in his 70s, on the same flights as the woman.

Hawke's Bay District Health Board's Medical Officer of Health, Dr Nick Jones said neither had needed hospital treatment and were recovering well in isolation at home.

The pair had followed all of the proper protocol. As a result, there was no further contact tracing required.

Air travel contacts would be followed up through the national contact tracing service.

Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield told reporters there were also three new probable cases nationally.

There were 155 cases of confirmed and probable cases, and he said the daily tally would now include probable cases.

The probable cases had returned a negative result, but their history and symptoms showed they had Covid-19, and they were treated the same as if they had returned a positive result.

Hawke's Bay's first coronavirus case was confirmed on Friday.

Hawke's Bay District Health Board's medical officer of health, Dr Nick Jones, said the confirmed case was a man in his 30s.

The man has recently returned from overseas and had been in self-isolation since returning to New Zealand on March 17.

Meanwhile the Government, retail banks and the Reserve Bank has announced a major financial support package for homeowners and businesses affected by the economic impacts of Covid-19.

The package will include a six month principal and interest payment holiday for mortgage holders and SME customers whose incomes have been affected by the Covid-19 economic disruption.

The Government and the banks will implement a $6.25 billion Business Finance Guarantee Scheme for small and medium-sized businesses, to protect jobs and support the economy through this unprecedented time.

"We are acting quickly to get these schemes in place to cushion the impact on New Zealanders and businesses from this global pandemic," Finance Minister Grant Robertson said.