Covid 19 coronavirus: No new Northland cases in 10 days, national total up by 5

Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield announced today there were five new cases of Covid-19. Photo / File

Northland has reached it's tenth consecutive day without any new Covid-19 cases, while the national total rose by five.

The region's total stands at 28 with the last new case of Covid-19 reported on April 17.

Meanwhile, Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield announced today there were five new cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand, made up of one new confirmed case and one new probable case.

Northland's tally went from 27 to 28 on Anzac Day, however 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 as Northland is their home region.

The patient has now completed quarantine and recovered.

Northland's cases are made up of 26 confirmed and 2 probable cases. Eight are Māori, 18 are European, and 2 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.

Bloomfield said six of the national cases that were recorded as probable have been reclassified, meaning the national total is 1469.

Bloomfield 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.

As of 9am yesterday, 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.

Bloomfield said there were almost 3000 tests nationally yesterday, and about 123,000 in total.

So far, 1180 people have recovered - about 80 per cent of the cases in New Zealand.

Seven people are in hospital.

Bloomfield confirmed a woman in her 90s at CHT St Margaret's Hospital had died, bringing the total number of Covid-19 deaths in New Zealand to 19.

He said a new Health Act order comes into effect tonight, when New Zealand goes into level 3.

Bloomfield said he was confident NZ can go into level 3 safely.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said people should pause to digest the country's low number of confirmed Covid-19 cases.

She said that, without the lockdown, there would have been more than 1000 cases a day and this shows why the lockdown was necessary.

"We have avoided the worst," she said.

Ardern said it was tragic New Zealand had lost 19 people.

"We send you our love at our time of loss."

"This has been one of the hardest elements of level 4," she said, of people not being able to be with loved ones when they die.

"We must hunt down the last few cases...this is like a needle in a hay stack," Ardern said.

She 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.

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