The total number of confirmed cases in the country remained at 1154 as of 1pm yesterday. Photo / 123RF
The total number of confirmed cases in the country remained at 1154 as of 1pm yesterday. Photo / 123RF
It's been 24 days since there has been a new confirmed case of Covid-19 in New Zealand.
Today is the Ministry of Health's elimination day - 28 days of no new cases since the last community transmission case came out of isolation.
That case, a Ministry for Primary Industries worker who tested positive during targeting testing at the border, went into isolation on April 30 and came out on May 18.
The Ministry of Health said at 1pm there had been no new cases of the virus, with the total number of confirmed cases remaining at 1154.
The combined total of confirmed and probable cases remains at 1504.
Yesterday, Ministry of Health laboratories completed 824 tests, taking the total of completed tests to 311,121. Lower testing volumes are often experienced at weekends.
Anyone with Covid-19 symptoms is encouraged to contacted Healthline, their GP or after-hours clinic about getting a free test.
There had been an increase of 3000 people signing up for the NZ Covid Tracer app since this time yesterday, bringing the total to 557,000 registrations.
"We continue to encourage as many people as possible to download and use the app - this will support our contact tracing efforts in level 1," the ministry said in a statement.
"It's great news that more and more businesses and organisations are displaying their official QR codes.
"The number of posters created by businesses is now 48,873. The total number of poster scans to date is 975,645."
Meanwhile, a record 1.75 million doses of the influenza vaccine had been distributed already this year, and the ministry reminded Kiwis it was important to get one.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern with the director general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield.
The low numbers were thanks in part to the raft of radical measures used over the six-week lockdown, including closed borders, heightened hygiene and a record vaccine uptake.
More than 200,000 Kiwis catch the flu each year, and an estimated 500 people die from it - more than the annual road toll.
Experts have been left astonished at the impact that the fight against Covid-19 has so far had on flu rates - one likening it to a fascinating "natural experiment".
But they warn the common virus will likely creep back up as Kiwis mingle under the looser world of level 1 - and are urging people to keep up good hygiene this winter.
The latest ESR data showed that, for the week ending June 5, the rate of consultations for flu-like illness was five per 100,000, compared with a historical rate of 16.5 per 100,000.
While consultation rates soared to more than 25 per 100,000 in March - in line with a surge in patients being checked for Covid-19 - the following month, figures dropped away to just 4.3 per 100,000.
Usually, at this time of year, there'd be about 22 flu-related calls per 100,000 people to Heathline; rates were instead sitting at about 15 per 100,000.
New Zealand moved to alert level 1 on Monday evening last week, June 8, with life returning to normal for many.
Super Rugby Aotearoa kicked off on Saturday night with the Highlanders defeating the Chiefs in Dunedin 28-27, while the Blues downed the Hurricanes 30-20 in Auckland yesterday.
