There is one more death and five new cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand. The person who died was a woman in her 90s at St Margaret's hospital. She was the 19th person to die from coronavirus-related causes in New Zealand.
No new cases of Covid-19 have been recorded in the Bay of Plenty and Lakes districts today.Nationwide, there is one more death and five new cases, according to director general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield.
With eight days in a row of new cases in single digits, Bloomfield and PrimeMinister Jacinda Ardern said the virus was currently considered eliminated in New Zealand.
Bloomfield said elimination never meant zero – "but it does mean we know where our cases are coming from".
He said that the Government's goal has been elimination, not eradication – whereby the virus is completely stamped out in New Zealand.
There is only one case in New Zealand where the source of infection is still being investigated.
Bloomfield said the case was in Tauranga and while there was a "strong suspicion" of a potential link, it had not been confirmed.
In response to a request for further information about the case, including when they tested positive and how many people were working on the investigation, a Ministry of Health spokesperson said no further information about the individual would be released at this stage.
"There is currently no public health risk associated with this case."
All investigations were run by public health units. The Bay of Plenty District Health Board's emergency operations centre was not available for contact today.In total, there have been 1469 cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand, with 19 deaths and about 80 per cent recovered so far.
The Bay of Plenty District Health Board area has 10 active cases - including one in hospital - and 37 recovered.
Lakes District Health Board area has 2 active cases and 14 recovered, according to Ministry of Health data.
