Covid 19 coronavirus: One new Northland case as campaign starts to thank frontline workers

A Facebook campaign 'Pass on the Aroha for New Zealanders' is to thank frontline health and disability workers for their Covid-19 work, like Te Hau Ora o Ngapuhi nurse Rhonda Zielinski.

Northland has recorded its first new Covid-19 case in eight days, with five new cases, and one further death from the virus nationally.

The Government announced today that there were five new cases of Covid-19 up to 9am today, made up of three new confirmed cases and two new probable cases – from 6,777 tests completed yesterday.

This is the same number of new cases as reported yesterday. Of the new cases reported today, four are linked to existing clusters, and one is still under investigation. One of the cases is in Northland, but details of that case have yet to be released.

The new case takes Northland's total to 28, with 17 now recovered, and is the first new case for seven days in the region. There are no cases in hospital in Northland.

The news comes as the Ministry of Health has launched a Facebook campaign called 'Pass on the Aroha for New Zealanders' to thank frontline health and disability workers for their tireless efforts on Covid-19.

Three of today's cases are linked to aged residential facilities - one in Auckland and two in Christchurch and another case is linked to a smaller Waikato cluster. One of the Christchurch cases attributed to a cluster today is the patient who passed away yesterday morning.

The combined total of tests undertaken nationally to date are 115,015, including around 4000 in Northland.

The combined total of confirmed and probable cases in New Zealand is 1,461, with 1,118 reported as recovered – an increase of 23 on yesterday. Nationally 77 per cent of all confirmed and probable cases are now recovered.

There was also the death last night of a woman in her 70s in Waitakere hospital who had been transferred from CHT St Margarets Hospital and Rest Home. She is the second resident transferred from CHT St Margarets to Waitakere to pass away.

The woman had underlying health conditions and was a confirmed case of Covid-19.
Waitakere hospital staff were able to support daily visits by a family member in the days prior to their death.

The family have thanked both the staff at CHT St Margarets and Waitakere hospital for the professional and compassionate care provided to their mother, the Ministry of Health said in a statement.

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

This was the 18th death from Covid-19 in New Zealand.

There are seven people in hospital, one less than yesterday. This total includes one person in the ICU in Middlemore. There remain 16 significant clusters – this is unchanged.

A cluster in Wellington of 13 cases linked to a local wedding is now regarded as closed as there has now been 2 incubation periods (28 days) since a case was notified. We expect more clusters to be closed in coming days.

In total, 395 people have recovered from COVID-19 who were considered part of a significant cluster.

The Ministry has launched a Facebook campaign called 'Pass on the Aroha for New Zealanders' to thank frontline health and disability workers for their tireless efforts on Covid-19.

People can take part and pass on the aroha by creating a video holding a sign of thanks, and tagging their video in a Facebook post with #arohanuihealthheroes.