Coronavirus: Health Minister unsure of number of test kits in New Zealand, but thousands more ordered

Exactly how many coronavirus test kits are in the country is unknown at this stage even to the Health Minister, but tens of thousands of kits have been ordered.

Health Minister David Clark is today expecting to get a breakdown of the number of Covid-19 tests in New Zealand and how many are on their way - and when.

It was difficult to give figures at the moment, he said, as there were different components to the test.

"There's the swab - I understand we've got 30,000 of them in the country and 90,000, roughly, on order and due soon. There's the chemicals, there's the physical parts of it and so on," he told Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking.

Clark said New Zealand was going to need a "long supply" of the test kits.

"It's a big thing for me - to make sure we have those test kits in the country because it's absolutely critical that we can continue to test.

"It's been the thing that the World Health Organisation has said we need to do alongside self-isolation and contact-tracing.

"And those things being done successfully is what has led us to be in a position that is much better than other countries at this stage."

There are now officially 28 confirmed Covid-19 cases in New Zealand, after it was announced yesterday that eight more people had tested positive.

Asked if there were now people - specifically those who had tested positive early on - who had come out the other side, he said there had been. But he could not give specific details.

"A number are. I know that people have completed the self-isolation period.

"Those who were in hospital ... I think there are three that have been through hospital and have come out the other side and one that's expected to need hospital-level care at this stage."

DOCTORS AND NURSES BROUGHT OUT OF RETIREMENT

All the New Zealand cases have been connected to people who had recently travelled overseas.

Clark also acknowledged that 233 intensive care and high care units beds had been set up and were ready if and when required.

Close to 300 ventilators were also ready and health staff are now being trained quickly to use them.

"The thing with the ventilators is actually the people to run them. That's the limiting point, so people are being trained right now to use them.

Health Minister David Clark speaks about Covid-19 in Wellington yesterday. Photo / Mark Mitchell

"That's what they found in Italy - they found themselves in a very difficult situation where they had the ventilator units but not the people to use them."

He said it was encouraging to hear reports of companies recruiting retired doctors and nurses, but acknowledged that it was important that they are kept away from the immediate risk of infection.

The Health Minister praised the public's change in behaviour - social distancing and practising good hygiene - in recent days, as the country continued to deal with the growing situation.

"I've seen people's behaviour change in the last week - shifting to the elbow bump.

"It often starts off as a joke, but people are now realising that this is serious and if we're going to keep our country safe, we need to look out for those around us who are vulnerable," Clark said.

"It's actually up to all of us to unite and take that social responsibility thing seriously to make sure that we are doing what we can do to help protect ourselves and those around us."