Venkat Raman
Auckland, April 11, 2020
Coronavirus has claimed two more lives in New Zealand, taking the total toll to four, depressing the mood the Nation which was preparing to celebrate Easter even under lockdown.
Both persons were aged persons.
One of them was in his 80s with underlying health conditions.
It is understood that he took ill on March 26, 2020 and was admitted to the Hospital on March 28, 2020 and has been receiving care.
Director of Public Health Dr Caroline McElnay said that the Ministry of Health is confident that his close contacts have been traced and that there is no additional risk posed by his death.
“The second person was a man in his 70s who died at Burwood Hospital in Christchurch yesterday. He was tested on April 9, 2020 and subsequently returned a positive result for COVID-19. As with the death reported yesterday, this person was one of a group of 20 residents transferred from Rosewood Rest Home & Hospital to Burwood as part of the Canterbury District Health Board’s cluster management process,” she said.
Risk remains high
Dr McElnay said that these residents were relocated to a ward at Burwood to allow them to be managed in one location but in isolation from each other.
“Due to the underlying vulnerabilities of this group, we cannot rule out further serious illness or deaths within it. The government understands the anxiety that New Zealanders may be feeling about these deaths both in the wider community and also for the grieving families. Because of the current Alert Level 4, we also know it can be difficult for families to feel they are part of their loved ones’ final hours,” she said.
Dr McElnay repeated that Coronavirus is a very serious disease, particularly for elderly people, and also for those with underlying health conditions.
“These deaths reinforce the importance of our move to Alert Level Four, and the measures we are all taking to limit spread, break the chain of transmission and prevent deaths. We want you to know that our health system will continue to do everything it can to support the fight against COVID-19,” she said.
Numbers update
The total number of new cases today is 29, of which nine are probable cases.
The total number of Covid-19 cases now stands at 1312, of which 422 people have recovered.
“We are still seeing a clear but declining link to overseas travel (40%), and ongoing links to confirmed cases within New Zealand (46%) including those in clusters we already know about and community transmission (2%). We are still investigating 11% of cases. In terms of testing, yesterday we carried out 3061 tests, with a rolling 7 day average of 3619 and total tests to date of 58,746,” Dr McElnay said.
One more Cluster
She said that the focus of health officials is on clusters, to which three of the four deaths has been linked. There are today 13 clusters in New Zealand.
“Our three largest clusters remain: Matamata (70); Bluff (85); and Marist College (85). The new cluster is an aged residential care facility in Christchurch, the George Manning. Additionally, two of our larger Auckland clusters which we have not previously named we can now provide some additional information. The first is an outbreak in the community which has subsequently resulted in cases at a Spectrum facility providing day care to individuals with an intellectually disability. The second was linked to a private party to celebrate an event in Auckland. There have been 35 cases linked to this cluster,” Dr McElnay said.
If you have symptoms of the coronavirus, call the NZ Covid-19 Healthline on 0800 358 5453 (+64 9 358 5453 for international SIMs) or call your GP – don’t show up at a medical centre
The above Report and Picture have been published under a Special Arrangement with www.rnz.co.nz
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