Number of Bay of Plenty Covid 19 coronavirus cases rises by two

Director general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield speaks to media during a press conference. Photo / File

The number of Covid-19 cases in the Bay of Plenty has risen by two today, as New Zealand recorded 1039 cases in total.

Director general of health Ashley Bloomfield revealed there were 89 new cases of coronavirus in New Zealand since yesterday - 48 confirmed cases and 41 probable cases.

There were 15 people in hospital, including three in ICUs; one in Wellington and two in Auckland, with two in a critical condition.

The total number of lab tests so far is 36,209. Of these, 3093 were processed yesterday.Bloomfield said 45 per cent had clear international travel links, 36 per cent were contacts of known cases, and 1 per cent were the result of community transmission. Another 18 per cent were still being investigated. A large proportion of these were likely to be from community transmission, Bloomfield said.

The number of cases in the Bay of Plenty District Health Board area, which covers Tauranga and Whakatane, rose to 31 today , from 30 yesterday.Meanwhile, one more case in Rotorua in the Lakes District Health Board area brought its count to eight, from seven yesterday . The number of cases in Taupō remained at four and the total for the Lakes district was now 12.

The Eastern Bay, which recorded its first case on Wednesday, still only had one case, according to a breakdown provided by Toi Te Ora Public Health.

The Bay of Plenty was yet to record any potential Covid-19 clusters, such as cases from a St Patrick's Day celebration in Matamata which resulted in 41 people infected - nine of these were diagnosed since Saturday.

The district health board regions with the most cases were Southern, Waikato, Auckland and Waitemata.

Bloomfield said it would be another week before the nationwide lockdown would have an observable effect on the national numbers.

• Additional reporting NZ Herald

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

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