Focus: Timeline of COVID-19 from first outbreak to global pandemic
A timeline of Covid-19 as the number of confirmed cases increases around the world. ...
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A timeline of Covid-19 as the number of confirmed cases increases around the world.
NOW PLAYING • Focus: Timeline of COVID-19 from first outbreak to global pandemic
A timeline of Covid-19 as the number of confirmed cases increases around the world. ...
The Ruby Princess cluster, which infected 24 New Zealanders and was linked to at least five deaths in Australia, has closed.
This means there has been no new cases linked to the Ruby Princess cluster for two incubation periods (28 days) since all cases completed isolation.
Princess Cruises was accusedof knowing about outbreaks of Covid-19 during two voyages of the Ruby Princess cruise ship, according to a lawsuit filed in the United States.
The complaint was filed by the family of passenger Chung Chen, who died of the virus on April 4.
The lawsuit accused the corporate office of Princess Cruises of being aware of coronavirus outbreaks not only during the voyage from March 8 to 19, but also the voyage from February 24 to March 8.
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The complaint claimed the company had placed "profits over the safety of its passengers" and was grossly negligent when it allowed passengers, including Chen, to join the "infected" ship on March 8.
Passengers boarded without proper screening alongside crew who had already been exposed to the virus and some of whom had "come down with the symptoms", it alleged.
Soon, coronavirus was "running rampant" on the second voyage around New Zealand, and when Princess Cruises became aware, it added "insult to injury" by failing to quarantine passengers.
In April, it was reported that a total of 440 people who had caught the deadly Covid-19 virus were linked to the Ruby Princess.
Today's figures
New Zealand has reached 21 days of no new cases of Covid-19.
The closure of the Ruby Princess cluster brought the number of significant clusters closed to 10.
Our total number of confirmed cases remains at 1154, which is the number we report to the World Health Organisation, the Ministry of Health said in its 1pm update. The number of recovered cases is 1482.
No additional deaths were reported. No one in New Zealand is receiving hospital-level care for Covid-19.
The number of posters created by businesses is now 46,700. The total number of poster scans to date is 890,868.
The mailbox for app feedback is tracingapp-feedback@health.govt.nz.
The mailbox for businesses/organisations who want help with QR codes is app@tracing.min.health.nz.
Rest home review
Yesterday an independent review - commissioned by director general of health Ashley Bloomfield- revealed how delays allowed the virus to spread in rest homes.
It found personal protective equipment (PPE) wasn't available in some facilities and communications and support by health authorities was at times "confusing and not always clear or consistent".
The panel report also confirmed infections were introduced by staff or visitors, and "in some cases, recognition of an outbreak was relatively delayed, which accelerated internal facility transmission".
For three of the outbreaks, "it appears that more than half of the people had developed symptoms of illness before the outbreak was notified" and "this delay makes contact tracing very difficult due to people being unable to remember details and contacts many days earlier".
Rest home staff described an atmosphere of fear. Some were threatened with eviction by landlords or housemates if they kept working for a facility.
"Some staff reported they were 'treated like lepers in our society' and the facilities were also the subject of online attacks," the report noted.
The ministry said the review was conducted "so New Zealand would be better placed to manage any further occurrences".
"The key focus of the reviewers and the ministry is to improve systems to prevent similar occurrences.
"Addressing faults in our systems reinforces the quality improvement focus used throughout health and disability services. No blame is being attributed to any staff involved.
"The ministry will be seeking feedback from aged-care representatives, district health boards and public health units on the review recommendations over the next three weeks to inform a response and an agreed action plan for improvement."
The report includes a number of recommendations for improvements, which the ministry will be seeking sector feedback on.
Yesterday's figures
The total number of cases of Covid-19 remained at 1504, which included 1154 confirmed and 350 probable.
There were no deaths to report, nor was anyone in New Zealand receiving hospital-level care for Covid-19, a ministry spokeswoman said.
Nine significant clusters have now closed, with no change from Wednesday.
The number of tests overall have reached a significant milestone, with 3350 on Wednesday taking the total to 301,882 - 6 per cent of the population.
