Covid 19 coronavirus: No new Northland cases for five days

Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said more Covid-19 testing is taking place in Northland this week.

There have been no new Covid-19 cases in Northland for five days - and no cases at all in the region's elderly care homes - as testing for the virus ramps up further across the district.

At yesterday's Covid-19 update, Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said there is one new death and six new cases of the virus in New Zealand.

The new death takes the national total toll to 14. She was a woman in her 80s from the Rosewood rest home cluster in Christchurch where seven others have died.

Bloomfield said the total number of cases nationally is now 1451. So far, 1036 have recovered. There are 11 people in hospital, with two of them in intensive care.

There are no new cases in Northland, which has had 27 so far, with 14 of them recovered.

Bloomfield said there is wider testing across New Zealand, with a specific focus on Māori and Pasifika, in places like Northland.

He said in Northland health officials were working with iwi and community health providers to get more tests done, particularly in more out of the way communities.

Extended community testing specifically targeted at rural communities with a high population of Māori should give Northland more confidence in preparation for next week's alert level 3.

Of Northland's 25 confirmed and 2 probable cases 13 people are self-isolating in the community and 14 have recovered. There have been no new cases in the region for five days.

Altogether 3298 tests have been carried out in Northland through primary care, Northland DHB hospitals, Community Based Testing Centres (CBTCs) and aged residential care facilities.

NDHB said the region's age residential care must be congratulated for the great work they have undertaken to ensure that their residents are safe. The virus has killed residents of some rest homes across the country but to date there have not been any cases in a rest home in Northland.

The spokeswoman said there is a lot of planning being done to re-establish appropriate services when level 3 kicks in from Tuesday.

Mobile testing started in Kaikohe and Whangārei on Tuesday with 50 tests done. Ngāti Hine Health Trust hosted their first mobile outreach clinic yesterday in Pipiwai and swabbed 28 people for Covid-19 and gave 16 Flu Vaccinations.

• Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website