There is one more death and five new cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand. The person who died was a woman in her 90s at St Margaret's hospital. She was the 19th person to die from coronavirus-related causes in New Zealand.
Northland has reached its 10th consecutive day with no new cases of Covid-19, as the country eases into alert level 3 today.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the "stay home to save lives" message remained at the new alert level, but it allowed some businesses to reopen under strict healthand safety rules and gave people a bit more freedom to do some activities locally - like fishing from a wharf or jetty, golfing, surfing and hunting.
Northland's last new Covid-19 case was reported on April 17.
The region's tally went from 27 to 28 on Anzac Day, but that additional case was a person already confirmed with the illness who had been transferred from Auckland Regional Public Health Service to Northland District Health Board because Northland is their home region.
The patient has now completed quarantine and recovered.
Northland's cases are made up of 26 confirmed and two probable cases. Eight are Māori, 18 are European, and two are listed as "other".
No Northland cases are in hospital, 11 are self-isolating in the community and 17 have now recovered, including five of the eight cases of Māori ethnicity.
Meanwhile, director general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield announced yesterday there were five new cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand, made up of one new confirmed case and one new probable case.
Bloomfield said six of the national cases that were recorded as probable have been reclassified, meaning the national total is 1469.
He said some public health units are reviewing some probable cases and that is why some classifications have changed.
The ministry will continue to do this, he said.
Director general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield says he is confident New Zealand can go into level 3 safely. Photo / File
Bloomfield said 1180 people have recovered from Covid-19 - about 80 per cent of the cases in New Zealand.
Seven people are in hospital, he said.
Bloomfield said a woman in her 90s at CHT St Margaret's Hospital in Te Atatu, Auckland, had died, bringing the total number of Covid-19 deaths in New Zealand to 19.
As of 9am Saturday, the total number of tests carried out in Northland was 4062 - 3051 of those at community-based testing centres, the rest across primary care, hospitals and aged residential care.
Nationally about 3000 tests were carried out yesterday, bringing the total to about 123,000.
Bloomfield said he is confident New Zealand can go into level 3 safely.
"We must hunt down the last few cases ... this is like a needle in a haystack."
Ardern said level 3 "will not be a return to pre-Covid life" and called on the "team of 5 million" to make sure the country does not have a second wave.
