Twenty-two of the people injured by the eruption on Whaakari / White Island still need airway support to breathe, and 1.2 million square centimetres of skin is needed for their ongoing recovery.
The injured
Civil Defence said 7 patients remained in Middlemore Hospital, 4 in Hutt Valley, 2 in Auckland City, 2 in Tauranga Base Hospital, 6 in Waikato, 8 in Christchurch and 1 in Wellington.
One patient in Wellington is leaving to Australia by a private company.
It is expected more patients will be transferred to Australia soon which will allow for more capacity.
"We have one or two patients with up to 90 per cent burns," said Middlemore Hospital's Dr Vanessa Thornton, clinical director of the emergency department.
Skin needed for burns victims
Dr Pete Watson is speaking on behalf of Counties Manukau DHB which covers Middlemore Hospital.
It is likely more Australians will be transferred home in the next 48 hours to allow them to be treated closer to home, he said.
Twenty-two patients remain on airways support.
He said 1.2 million square centimetres of skin are needed for skin grafts for burns victims and these supplies are coming from the United States and Australia.
"We have almost completed the full identification of all the patients in our hospitals," he said.
"The health system is set up to manage disasters and our health system is equipped to deal with this."
This number of burns at one time was unprecedented, he said.
"The patients we are treating are straight forward in terms of dealing with the severity of their burns, it's more a matter of scale and organisation of patients."
It is estimated that the burns will take 500 hours of operation across all the patients. Surgeons will be working through the night.
'Absolutely committed' to removing bodies from island
Police Deputy Commissioner John Tims said police were absolutely committed to removing the bodies on White Island.
"But the environment on the island had changed.
"We are standing by to go back to that island. As soon as we are confident there are no risks and they can be managed we will do so."
GNS Science had advised them it was too dangerous to return currently.
They had developed a recovery plan and were confident they could carry it out, but needed to be able to manage the risks.
Recovery workers would face serious physical and chemical hazards, he said.
"[But] it is our number 1 priority. We will return."
Tims said they had managed to identify all of the missing and injured. This information had been communicated to their families.
The names of those missing will be revealed shortly.
An Australian helicopter will be uplifting the Australian injured.
Tims said he wanted to acknowledge the hard work of emergency services.
He said they understood the stress and grief the families were experiencing, and the importance of returning to the island.
"We understand our role, we are absolutely committed. And we will deliver on the promise of our return to the island.
"Those families and friends deserve closure."
Risk of another eruption
GNS Science senior scientist Graham Leonard said there'd been further escalation at White Island today.
He said it was a highly uncertain, volatile environment on the island currently.
It would be challenging seeing and breathing, and there was also a risk of another eruption.
As of 11am, there was 40-60 per cent chance of another eruption like Monday's deadly explosion.
This was up from 35-50 per cent yesterday. The risk was high yesterday, today it's even higher, he said.
They were currently monitoring the state of the volcano's magma and would provide an update this evening.
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Comments
It is a tragedy of epic proportions and my heart goes out to the victims and the healthcare professionals. My only quibble is the use of the phrase "unprecedented proportions" Her Majesty's Hospital Ship Uganda received twice as many burns victims in 5 hours after the bombing of RFA Gallahad in 1982. with no burns unit which was built as the casualties came across the flight deck. We had one plastic and burns surgeon. There are always lessons from history sadly.