Covid 19 Omicron outbreak: 41yo dad of four dies after testing positive; Coroner says cause 'inconclusive'

An East Auckland father has died just four days after testing positive for Covid-19, leaving behind his wife and four children.

The Herald understands that his cause of death has been ruled inconclusive pending further investigation by the Coroner.

Daryl Saunders, 41, who died on March 10, was husband to Sarah Saunders and father to three daughters and a son - the youngest aged 7.

Saunders and Sarah were high school sweethearts and have been married for 24 years, a Givealittle page set up for the family said.

The pair lived in England and moved to New Zealand in 2016 with their children. They had been living in Botany at the time of Saunders' death.

A Givealittle page has been set up by Sarah's employer, Young Life NZ, a charity that employs youth workers at schools across East Auckland.

The money raised will go towards the Saunders family's bills, funeral costs and education while Sarah completes her final year of study to become a trauma counsellor, the page said.

"We want Sarah to be able to return to her work and study. We don't want her to stop working towards the future plans that she had made. That is what Daryl would have wanted."

It has raised more than $2700 so far, with a goal of raising $30,000.

Sarah started work with students at Edgewater College in 2018, the Young Life NZ website said.

"She has a background in youth work and working with foster children.

"Sarah was born in New Zealand but grew up in the UK and moved back to New Zealand in 2016, with her husband, Daryl and they have four children."

The couple's families are largely based in England. Sarah's sister Christina Nightingale wrote that the family is "utterly distraught" and "all feeling pretty useless" being on the "other side of the world", on a GoFundMe page she set up to help financially support the family.

"Daz was loved by everyone, he would do anything for anybody, he was the most laid back person. He was the best dad, son, uncle, big brother and friend and he was such a big joker we all were regularly given wet willys and had pranks played on us," she wrote.

"This is such a huge shock to us all as a family we are utterly distraught and with them being on the other side of the world we're all feeling pretty useless."

The GoFundMe page has raised more than £2500 ($4807).

Under changes to Ministry of Health policy last week, the deaths of people who die within 28 days of testing positive for the virus are treated as Covid-19-related.

Twenty-four more Covid-19-related deaths were reported by health authorities yesterday, as the total number linked to the virus reached 141.

Sixteen of yesterday's reported deaths had occurred over the past three weeks while eight people had died on Tuesday.

Delays in the reporting of the deaths could be linked to people dying with, rather than of Covid-19, and the virus being discovered after they had died.