There are two new cases of Covid-19 today, made up of one confirmed case and one probable case. It is the eleventh day in a row where case numbers have been in single digits.
There are 155 healthcare workers across New Zealand who have been infected with Covid-19 - more than one in 10 of all the country's cases.
As of Tuesday, healthcare workers made up 11 per cent of the total 1472 cases, according to figures provided to the Herald by the Ministryof Health.
Sixty-eight per cent of healthcare workers had recovered fully from the virus by Tuesday, compared to 82 per cent of all cases in New Zealand.
Of the 155 cases, four out of five had not been overseas recently - just 21 per cent had travelled.
Rates of infection have risen much faster among healthcare workers than among the rest of the population, at least during the second half of the lockdown.
Between April 12 and April 28 the number of infected healthcare workers appear to have climbed 53 per cent compared to a 10 per cent national increase, according to a Herald analysis.
The Ministry of Health said it was not releasing further information on healthcare workers' cases - including where they worked or in what roles - due to privacy reasons.
Sarah Dalton, spokeswoman for the Association for Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS), said at the time an official subset of data relating to medical staff would be useful at a national, DHB and community level.
"We know that healthcare workers are at greater risk. We are relying on them and it's essential for them not only to be safe, but to feel safe."
Despite the ministry's refusal to give specifics on the latest healthcare infections, similar information has previously been released to media.
A report earlier this month from Newsroom said by April 12 there were 101 infected healthcare workers, including 48 support or care workers, 31 nurses, seven doctors, four medical students and 11 in other roles.
Comparing those numbers with the latest figures from the Ministry of Health, the number of infections among healthcare workers climbed 53 per cent between April 12 and April 28.
Over the same 16-day period the total number of cases in New Zealand went from 1339 to 1472 - a 10 per cent increase.
The difference is even more stark when healthcare workers are removed from the national total. There were 1238 cases among non-healthcare workers by April 12, rising to 1317 on April 28 - an increase of just 6 per cent.
Aged-care workers weren't included in Newsroom's figures from April 12. The Herald has asked the Ministry of Health to confirm whether they are included in the latest numbers.
It's not clear how many of the 155 healthcare workers are probable or confirmed cases. Healthcare workers with Covid-19 are more likely to be counted as confirmed, rather than probable cases, as they are prioritised for testing.
Ministry of Health case definitions advise that while symptomatic close contacts of a confirmed case can be treated as probable cases and don't need testing, healthcare workers in this position should still be tested.
Internationally, healthcare workers make up a large proportion of those infected. In mid-April some 17,000 medical professionals in Italy had tested positive, or around 10 per cent of all cases, according to Agence France-Presse. And the Guardian reported that in some parts of the United States medical professionals made up 20 per cent of all cases.
Different rates of testing among medical professionals and the general public could affect the accuracy of those numbers.
*An earlier version of this story was based on a report from another media outlet that there were 115 cases of Covid-19 among healthcare workers in New Zealand as of Tuesday. Figures provided to the Herald by the Ministry of Health this morning show there were 155 cases.
