There are 71 new cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand. The 71 cases are made up of 49 new confirmed cases and 22 new probable cases. It brings the total to 868 cases in New Zealand since the pandemic began.
The numbers of Covid-19 cases in the country's three biggest clusters continue to rise, and include 19 new cases connected to a wedding in Bluff since yesterday.
The wedding cluster now has 53 cases, overtaking a St Patrick's Day celebration in Matamata to become the second biggest cluster in New Zealand.
The Matamata cluster has climbed by eight today, bringing the total to 49 people who have caught coronavirus after attending or being in contact with someone who attended the celebration at the Redoubt Bar in the small Waikato town.
Three more people have now been confirmed to have the virus in connection to the country's biggest cluster at girls' school Marist College in Auckland.
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There are now 59 cases connected to the college.
Meanwhile, there are two more cases connected to the World Hereford Conference in Queenstown, up to 29, and six more cases related to a workplace in Auckland, up to 16.
The cluster at a Hamilton rest home has remained steady at 14.
The wedding was held at Oyster Cove Restaurant and Bar on March 21, attended by about 70 people. Photo / Google
At Atawhai Assisi Rest Home in Matangi, near Hamilton, an elderly resident was infected by his daughter, who visited from Australia before the lockdown.
The woman, a nurse, returned a positive test when she arrived back in Australia, prompting testing at the rest home and hospital, and sending a quarter of the staff into lockdown.
The Ministry of Health is only publicly reporting clusters with 10 or more cases.
Most of the clusters have a link to someone or several people who travelled overseas.
Those identified as clusters are not necessarily new or recent cases but have been linked because they have been in the same place together.
It's understood the Bluff wedding was a gathering of about 70 guests at the Oyster Cover Restaurant and Bar on March 21, after the Government had banned indoor events of more than 100 people but before tighter restrictions came into effect.
Venue owner Ross Jackson told the Otago Daily Times he believed the guests were not local but from Invercargill and beyond.
It was announced earlier this week several attendees tested positive for Covid-19 and Jackson said all staff who worked at the event had now self-isolated.
"We'll just hunker down here. We're obviously closed.
"The wedding was the last function we had on our books."
He said they had put health precautions in place, such as hand sanitising and minimal contact between people.
"I don't think that made a jot of difference to be fair, now I know what I know about Covid-19."
Bluff was a small place and, since the news of the cluster broke, he had experienced the "odd sharp comment".
"You expect it, but to be fair, everyone in Bluff has been really supportive."
The Redoubt Bar and Eatery St Patrick's Day party on March 17 sparked the need for a Covid-19 testing station to be set up in the Waikato town, where nearby Hobbiton attracts thousands of international tourists every year.
There are also seven new cases related to the Ruby Princess cruise ship, which docked in Napier before heading back to Sydney.
Napier couple Andrew and June Ranyard were on board the ship and have contracted the virus, testing positive for it a few days after disembarking.
Andrew Ranyard told the Herald he and his wife started to feel unwell the day after disembarking in Sydney, and had been bed-bound for the past two weeks.
He said they were told nothing about the outbreak on board when they left the ship.
