Northern Advocate
  • Northern Advocate home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei
  • Kaipara
  • Mangawhai
  • Dargaville

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northern Advocate

Covid 19 coronavirus: 5 new cases nationally as Northland DHB ramps up testing

By Julia Czerwonatis
Reporter for the Northern Advocate·Northern Advocate·
20 Apr, 2020 10:04 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

A timeline of Covid-19 as the number of confirmed cases increases around the world.

New Zealand has five new cases of Covid-19 bringing the total up to 1445 as Northland is preparing to increase community testing.

At today's Covid-19 briefing, Dr Ashley Bloomfield, Director-General of Health, said the five new cases were made up of two confirmed and three probable patients.

All new infections are linked to existing cases. There are no new Northland cases, keeping the number of confirmed and probable cases in the region at 27.

One patient remains in a stable condition at Whangārei Hospital. Twelve people are self-isolating in the community, and 14 have now recovered.

NeedToKnow3
NeedToKnow3
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Bloomfield reported the death of one woman in her 70s from St Margaret's Hospital and Rest Home in Te Atutu who had underlying health conditions. The total number of deaths nationally is now 13.

Twelve people are in hospital – two fewer than yesterday – including three in ICUs. None of the patients is in critical condition.

Bloomfield New Zealand now had 1006 recovered cases, and calls to Healthline and other services have plummeted.

Meanwhile, Northland District Health Board is increasing its Covid-19 testing across the region in partnership with Māori health providers.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The nine providers will provide mobile services reaching into the smaller communities they currently visit.

"The providers have well-established relationships with their communities and whānau, experienced staff and established mobile health services," Dr Catherine Jackson, NDHB's Medical Officer of Health, said.

"The initial plan is for the mobile services to go to the smaller communities they currently visit offering a mobile clinic to ensure that whānau Māori have strengthened access to Covid-19 testing and influenza vaccination."

Māori were a priority in the DHB's pandemic response.

"Although testing rates for Māori are higher than for non-Māori across all parts of Te Tai Tokerau, there are still some areas where access is harder due to the remote location," Jackson said.

Discover more

New Zealand|politics

Auckland moves to level 3 lockdown: 38 essential things you can and can't now do

27 Apr 04:36 PM

Northland arts sector hit hard by fallout of Covid-19

20 Apr 06:09 PM

Northland leaders say Govt's decision is 'wise course of action'

20 Apr 05:00 PM

Kaitaia woman in court for lockdown breaches

20 Apr 10:00 PM

As at 9am today, 3073 Northlanders have been tested of which 46 per cent identified as Māori.

"Additional concerns have been raised by Māori providers, particularly for kaumātua and kuia who are reluctant to come out of their bubbles and communities because they are worried about putting themselves at risk."

The existing seven community based testing centres in Kaitaia, Kerikeri, Kaikohe, Kawakawa, Rawene, Dargaville and Whangārei remain open seven days a week.

For more information about community based testing centres, click here.

At today's update, Minister of Education Chris Hipkins also gave indication about how schools and early childhood facilities would operate under alert level 3 next week.

• Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

He said most children would be expected to continue with distance learning and schools would be open only for students up to year 10 who needed to be there.

"This is not a normal situation, and we will need to be doing things differently. Distance learning is going to be with us for some time – at least three weeks."."

Residential and special schools will not open early on in level 3.

Cleaners and other staff are allowed back from tomorrow to tend to the properties before the teacher only day on April 28.

He said because the Director-General of Health was confident that there was no undetected community transmission, the chances of the virus coming through the gate of a school was small.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Northern Advocate

Northern Advocate

Two charged with neglect 10 years after 4yo's death in Kaikohe

Northern Advocate
|Updated

Major water leak forces school closure for urgent repairs

Northern Advocate

Saving lives: Mobile AED startup named best emerging business


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Northern Advocate

Two charged with neglect 10 years after 4yo's death in Kaikohe
Northern Advocate

Two charged with neglect 10 years after 4yo's death in Kaikohe

Police have continued their investigation since Alestra Kepa-Hati's death in 2015.

17 Jul 02:17 AM
Major water leak forces school closure for urgent repairs
Northern Advocate
|Updated

Major water leak forces school closure for urgent repairs

17 Jul 01:26 AM
Saving lives: Mobile AED startup named best emerging business
Northern Advocate

Saving lives: Mobile AED startup named best emerging business

16 Jul 11:00 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northern Advocate e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Northern Advocate
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northern Advocate
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP