Covid 19 Coronavirus: No new cases, 1428 recovered from virus, one more person in hospital

As New Zealand enjoys its first weekend of alert level 2, the Ministry of Health has confirmed there are no new cases of Covid-19.

New Zealand's combined total of confirmed and probable cases remains at 1498, of which 1148 are confirmed cases.

A total 1428 people are reported as having recovered from Covid-19, an increase of seven on yesterday. This is 95 per cent of all confirmed and probable cases.

Today three people receiving hospital-level care for Covid-19 – one each in Auckland, Middlemore and Waikato hospitals. None are in intensive care.

The ministry said the country still had 16 "significant clusters".

There are no additional deaths.

The total number of tests completed to date is 223,937, an increase of 7150.

"During this first weekend of alert level 2, it is vital that all New Zealanders maintain the good habits we have learned and implemented in our daily lives over the past weeks," the ministry said.

It reminded New Zealanders to stay home if they are sick and keep their distance from other people in public, including on transport.

Anyone with symptoms of cold or flu should call their doctor or Healthline immediately and get tested.

Good hand hygiene will continue to be a simple and effective tool to keep Covid-19 at bay.

Social gatherings must be kept to a maximum of 10 people at one time. People are encouraged to keep track of where they've been and who they've seen to help with contact tracing if needed.

Testing identified one new case of Covid-19 yesterday, after three consecutive days of zero new cases.

The case was linked to the Marist College cluster and from a person now not considered infectious, director-general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said.

But it reinforced Covid-19's "long tail" and the need to stay vigilant, including with handwashing, physical distancing and staying home when sick, Bloomfield said.

"We need to keep consistently doing the things that will help keep all New Zealanders safe."

Marist College said the person, who had symptoms of the virus in late March but tested negative, was not considered to be infectious.

The case came to light after the entire school was recently retested, and was a "weakly positive" test.

The school will reopen on Monday.

"This new case does not signal any further spread of Covid-19, rather that the test can detect viral genetic material weeks after a person has recovered," the school said.

"Auckland Regional Public Health Service [ARPHS] confirm it is unlikely there is still virus circulating in the Marist community."

The person would stay home as a precaution until they have a negative test result.

"ARPHS has informed the board that it still considers Marist College safe for students to return on Monday."

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