Covid 19 coronavirus: Paralympian Laura Thompson's message to Kiwis as her family fight the virus

Laura Thompson (left) warns Kiwis to take Covid-19 seriously. Pictured with Emma Foy at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Photo / Getty Images

A Paralympian gold-medallist has shared her Covid-19 ordeal and has a message to Kiwis - stay home, it saves lives.

Laura Thompson, who is 12 weeks pregnant with her third child, has tested positive for coronavirus, along with her husband Will and his parents.

Her mother-in-law was airlifted to Dunedin Hospital last night and is now on a ventilator in the intensive care unit.

"We took every precaution in this house and the virus was contracted through community transmission," Thompson shared online.

"We have no idea where she got it."

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Thompson won a gold, silver and bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Paralympics, and a silver and bronze at the 2016 Summer Paralympics as a "pilot" for blind cyclists Phillipa Gray and Emma Foy.

She won eight gold medals between 2014-16 and was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to cycling in 2013.

Thompson told Newshub she first felt ill five days ago, before testing positive for Covid-19 on Monday.

Her two children, aged 2-and-a-half and just 7 months old, likely have the virus but have not been tested.

And she has a message for Kiwis beginning to feel complacent in their lockdown efforts.

"I see a few people 'bending' the rules to interact through the lockdown or saying things about the lockdown ending early," she said.

"Just don't. This virus is devastating in so many ways."

Some realities about actually dealing with covid-19. I'm 12 weeks pregnant and have covid-19, my partner just got a...

Posted by Laura Thompson on Monday, 6 April 2020

She urged New Zealanders to take the virus seriously and to care for their families, their communities and the most vulnerable.

"If your loved ones are sick they lie in hospital alone, you can't visit them, you can't do anything."

Her young children haven't been able to go to the park or see other family members for fear of spreading the virus and she wasn't even able to hug them, Thompson said.

"People cannot become complacent," she told Newshub.

"I was told I was over the top with the precautions I took leading into the lockdown."

"Stay home, it saves lives and pain."

Thompson said she was relieved when he husband tested positive for the coronavirus - because it meant she could give him a hug.

There were 50 new cases of coronavirus today - the lowest daily total in a fortnight.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she was "cautiously optimistic" that New Zealand was beginning to turn a corner.

The combined total of confirmed and probable cases in New Zealand since the pandemic began is 1210.

Twelve people are in hospital, with four of those in ICU. Two people are in a critical condition.

But Kiwis shouldn't ease up on their lockdown protocols yet, with Police Commissioner Andrew Coster warning that more police will be out on the streets over Easter weekend.

Checkpoints will be set up across the country at holiday hotspots and anyone thinking of sneaking off for the long weekend should rethink this immediately, he said.