On the final day under alert level 4, there were five new cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand and another death was confirmed, the launch of a contact tracing app is getting closer and businesses geared up for operating under level 3.
Jacinda Ardern and Dr Ashley Bloomfield heading to the last daily Covid-19 briefing before the country drops down to alert level 3. Photo: Pool / Getty
As Covid-19 spreads around the world, it can be daunting keeping up with the information. For RNZ, our responsibility is to give you verified, up to the minute, trustworthy information to help you make decisions about your lives and your health. We'll also be asking questions of officials and decision makers about how they're responding to the virus. Our aim is to keep you informed.
At the daily media briefing, Director General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said there was one confirmed case and four new probable cases today and the total number of active Covid-19 cases is now 1469.
The latest victim to the virus was a woman in her 90s, who was a resident at St Margaret's Rest Home in Auckland and had underlying health conditions, he said. She was part of a group from the rest home who had been transferred to Waitakere Hospital.
Dr Bloomfield said 1180 people had now recovered from Covid-19, an increase of 38 on yesterday.
"This means around 80 percent of our cases are now recovered."
He said there were seven people in hospital, including one person in ICU in Middlemore.
There remain 16 significant clusters in the country, and one case in Tauranga still being investigated.
Speaking at the same briefing, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said alert level 4 had been nearly five weeks "living and working in ways that just two months ago would have seemed impossible, but we did and we have done it together".
She said testing had grown from zero to the capacity to perform 8000 tests per day, one of the highest rates of testing per capita.
Ardern said there was no widespread community transmission now in New Zealand and "we have won that battle".
She said level 3 was not and could not be the same as a return to pre-Covid life, and New Zealand may need to remain at alert level 3 for longer than two weeks if required.
"I can't emphasise this enough. There are new risks going into level 3. Please keep your distance to workmates as much as possible," Ardern said.
Ardern said that with Parliament resuming, the daily Covid-19 joint updates will not be as regular and she thanked Dr Bloomfield for his service during this time.
- 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
Contact tracing app
The Ministry of Health plans to make a voluntary tracing app available in the next fortnight to track the movements of people with the virus.
The first version of the app would allow voluntary pre-registration, giving the ministry up-to-date contact details for users.
The ministry was also looking into the use of QR codes to check into businesses or places.
Respecting people's privacy and security would be a key focus, it said.
Privacy Commissioner John Edwards said he was confident the government had followed a robust process to ensure that data collected by the app will be used appropriately.
He said he has been working with the Ministry of Health on the project and his office will be keeping an eye on how the data is collected and used.
The app complements, not replaces, manual contact tracing by public health officials, Edwards said.
In the daily briefing, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she remained sceptical about what the contact tracing app is going to achieve because it requires a very high voluntary uptake.
The Ministry of Health plans to make the voluntary TraceTogether app available in the next fortnight to track the movements of people with Covid-19. Photo: 123rf
Testing at holiday park after positive result
Residents at a Hawke's Bay holiday park are all being tested for Covid-19 after one of them tested positive for the virus.
The man did not have any symptoms, but was tested because he was a health care worker at Gladys Mary Care Home in Napier, which is linked to the cruise ship Ruby Princess cluster of 22 people.
Several dementia patients at the home became infected after a relative of one of the residents contracted the virus from infected passengers when it docked in Napier on 15 March.
The Hawke's Bay District Health Board said the man had been sharing some facilities with others at the holiday park, so Public Health was now testing everyone who had also been living there.
Hawke's Bay Medical Officer of Health Dr Nick Jones said he was confident the risk to anyone else at the holiday park was very low but to ensure, in the unlikely instance, there were other cases the decision had been made to test everyone living there.
Photo: RNZ /Dom Thomas
Preparing for level 3
Extra safety measures are being put in place for when district courts reopen tomorrow.
The courts are classed as an essential service and continued to operate throughout alert level 4, but only for the most pressing cases.
Under level 3 people may leave home to attend court, however appearances in person are limited to ensure physical distancing rules are upheld.
Screening at court entrances would limit numbers, PPE would be available to anyone who asked for it and defendants could bring only one support person, Chief District Court Judge Heemi Taumaunu said.
People will also have to provide details for a Covid-19 contact-tracing register and proof of identification may be required.
Extra safety measures are being put in place when district courts reopen tomorrow. Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
Teachers are also getting ready for alert level 3 when some students will return to classes.
Schools are reopening on Wednesday for children up to Year 10 who cannot study from home, or whose parents need to return to work.
While building firms are preparing to return to work tomorrow, although there will be restrictions in place.
Under level 3, workers can resume on-site work, provided they have a Covid-19 control plan in place, with appropriate health and safety and physical distancing measures.
Building firm Naylor Love chief executive Rick Herd said plans would be different at every work site, where each site had varying numbers of workers and that could lead to additional costs.
And for those wondering whether they can travel under level 3, the rules allow a bit more movement but people wanting to travel too far from their neighbourhood will still need a very good reason to do so.
What happened overseas?
* Italy has outlined plans to ease restrictions from 4 May as it records its lowest daily death toll since mid-March. - BBC
* Spain, has reported its lowest daily death toll in more than a month. Its health ministry said 288 more people had died of the virus, the lowest number since 20 March, a steep drop from the 378 deaths recorded on Saturday. - BBC
* Pacific islanders living in the United States have a Covid-19 infection rate two to three times the average in at least four American states, according to data released on Sunday by the Pacific Islander Center of Primary Care Excellence, a California-based group. - RNZ Pacific
* It took five hours for Australians to download the COVIDSafe app at a rate the government expected would take five days, the ABC reports. - ABC
Read more about the Covid-19 coronavirus:
- See all RNZ Covid-19 news
- Your Covid-19 questions answered - from health and employment to managing anxiety
- A timeline: How the coronavirus started, spread and stalled life in New Zealand
- Covid-19 symptoms: What they are and how they make you feel
- Touching your Face: Why do we do it and how to stop
- Scientific hand-washing advice to avoid infection
- Coronavirus: A glossary of terms
- The Coronavirus Podcast