Ardern said the 61 new cases today seemed "heartening" on the face of it, but she said it was too early to say if the lockdown was slowing transmission. Transmission in the community prior to the lockdown may yet be "rearing its head".
The number of Covid-19 cases linked to a wedding in Bluff has risen by 12 in 24 hours. A furthernine who attended a St Patrick's Day party in Waikato also have the virus.
But the biggest cluster of Covid-19 cases is still linked to girls' school Marist College in Auckland where another six cases were confirmed overnight, taking the total to 56.
The St Patrick's Day party at the Redoubt Bar in Matamata now has 41 linked cases and the wedding, which took place before large gatherings were banned, has 34.
No more cases have been confirmed in three other clusters: the Hamilton rest home, still 14, the World Hereford Conference in Queenstown, 27 cases, and the Wellington group that travelled to the United States, 15.
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The Ministry of Health is now 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 80 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.
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.
Before that patients were turning up to the testing site in neighbouring Te Aroha.
Atawhai Assisi Home and Hospital has not had any new cases of Covid-19 confirmed in the past 24 hours. The cluster totals 14. Photo / GoogleMaps
Overall, the Waikato District Health Board region has 117 cases of Covid-19, one more than Auckland and one behind the highest number in any region, Southern District Health Board.
Delegates toured the North and South Islands before and after the conference.
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.
At Marist College in Auckland, one father spoke out after being denied a test for his symptoms twice before being admitted to hospital and confirmed with Covid-19.
Despite being severely ill for a week, Muliaga Brown told the Herald he was twice turned away for testing.
The Ministry of Health has updated criteria for testing for Covid-19 - but patients must still be in a priority group.
Anyone with symptoms but no links to travel or other cases, who is not a healthcare or essential worker, who does not live in a communal situation, and is not in intensive care may still be denied a test.
