The Ministry of Health says a cluster is considered closed when there have been no new cases for two incubation periods (ie, 28 days) from the date when all cases complete isolation.
The origin of the outbreak that claimed the lives of elderly patients at the hospital was never found.
Yesterday laboratories completed 3,703 tests, bringing the total number of tests completed to date to 409,032.
Of the 2,159 people who left managed isolation facilities there are still 277 people who the ministry has failed to contact despite repeatedly trying to make contact with, including via text and phone calls.
Because of the high number of tests around New Zealand during this period not detecting any case of community transmission any risk from this group can be regarded as very low, says the health ministry.
Of the remaining 2,159 returning Kiwis who left facilities without testing:
• 54 people left managed isolation early on a compassionate exemption, and that group has been closed off.
• One person who was initially granted an exemption was withdrawn before they left isolation, meaning they completed their 14 days in isolation.
• All others had completed 14 days in managed isolation and 1,326 people have now been contacted and have tested negative for COVID-19, which is over 60% of this cohort.
• A further 395 people have been spoken with and referred for testing.
It's been an eventful week in post-lockdown level one with the departure of embattled health minister David Clark, the expansion of quarantine facilities and the number of cases tipping over 10 million internationally.
New Zealand now has had a total of 1180 confirmed cases of Covid-19 with one significant cluster remaining open. All recent cases have been detected in people who were recently returned from overseas with no community transmission.
The Government also announced an expansion of managed isolation facilities, with Hamilton hotels preparing to quarantine returning Kiwis. Dunedin and Queenstown are also being considered as centres where people can isolate. It will bring the country's 24 quarantine and managed isolation facilities to 27 next week.
In recent weeks security has stepped up at the border, with the government drafting in military personnel and Avsec staff to oversee managed isolation facilities.
It follows a lapse in testing protocols where more than 1000 people left quarantine without a negative test last month.
Of the 1359, most had been contacted and tested negative or referred for a test; 142 will not be tested including 84 who have refused a test; and by yesterday 294 people still had not been tracked down.
Director general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said today would be the final day he would give daily reports on the numbers identified as having left isolation after June 9 without a test – the date on which day 3 and day 12 testing was supposed to have started.
And as school holidays roll around, Bloomfield also revealed he would be going on a week's break.
