Five people in managed isolation have recovered from Covid-19. There are now 22 active cases in New Zealand, with no new ones announced today.
Health Minister Chris Hipkins and Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield provided latest details on New Zealand's Covid-19 cases this afternoon.
Bloomfield said five cases had recovered, so there were now 22 active cases and none needed hospital treatment.l.
The total number of confirmed cases of coronavirus remains at 1205. The last community transmission case was 83 days ago.
There were 2419 tests conducted yesterday, just under 2000 of them in the community.
Bloomfield said this showed that the message of getting tested seemed to have boosted testing numbers.
He would meet with district health board bosses today to ensure there was good access to the community seven days a week, and to clarify that tests are funded.
Clinical leaders were also being met with to drive home those key messages to increase testing rates, he said.
There had been 500 responses to the GP survey that was sent out two days ago, which would look at, among other things, how often Kiwis were declining to be tested.
"Even though we have no community transmission, if you have offered a swab there is a good reason for that. Please take that test," Bloomfield said.
The case definition changes at the end of June separated people who were of high suspicion - such as border workers - and these people needed to isolate while awaiting their test result.
But people not considered higher risk didn't need to.
Bloomfield said there will be a rolling programme to test people working at quarantine and managed isolation facilities.
MOBILE DATA
Chris Hipkins said the cost of mobile data was a barrier to people accessing Covid-19 information.
The Ministry of Health was working with Spark, Vodafone and 2degrees to make information websites free for mobile access. Data will be charged back to the ministry.
Hipkins said he had met with the assurance committee for contact-tracing and he expected, within a day or two, to receive its final report and recommendations. He will outline the details of the report next week.
Meanwhile, global coronavirus infections have surged past 15 million, a Reuters tally shows, with the pandemic gathering pace even as countries remain divided in their response to the crisis.
The five countries with the highest case numbers are the United States, Brazil, India, Russia and South Africa. But the Reuters tally shows the disease is accelerating the fastest in the Americas, which account for more than half the world's infections and half its deaths.
- NZ Herald and Reuters
