451 Covid-19 cases total - 83 new. March 28

The Ministry of Hleath has advised that the total Covid-19 cases now total 451, 83 of which are new.

Two cases are now in intensive care. 12 people are in hospital nationally.

Of the 83 new cases, 78 are confirmed and 5 are probable.

50 people have so far recovered from Covid 19.

Here is the full Ministry of Heath update:

"There are 83 new cases of COVID-19 in New Zealand made up of 78 new confirmed cases and 5 probable cases. This is as at 9.00 am this morning.

There are 50 individuals that we can confirm have recovered.

We have 12 people in hospital with COVID-19. There are 3 in Wellington Regional Hospital, 1 in Wairau Hospital (Blenheim), 1 in Nelson Hospital, 2 in Whangarei Hospital and 1 each in Auckland, Waikato, Taranaki, Dunedin and Greymouth hospitals.

There are two people in ICU, one on a ventilator. For privacy reasons we won’t be providing other details on these patients.

Our laboratories are working to process and report test results as quickly as possible. Taken over a seven-day period, our average daily test number is 1613.

Anyone who has been tested is expected to be in strict self-isolation until advised of the result of their test – that means effectively quarantining themselves from other members of their family.

We are still seeing a strong link to overseas travel, as well as links to confirmed cases.

We continue to investigate several possible clusters.

The combined total of confirmed and probable cases in New Zealand is 451.


Pregnancy & COVID-19

We want to send some important messages to pregnant women and their whanau.

We know you may be particularly concerned about what COVID-19 means for you and your family. The Ministry wants to support you.

Please talk to your midwife and support people so you get the best advice.  

Seeing your midwife for routine and urgent visits is still necessary throughout this lockdown period.

Your midwife will do as much of your consult as she can either over the phone or via video conferencing.

Your midwife may reduce the number of face to face visits you have.

Please talk to your midwife about the most appropriate location for your face to face visits. There is more information on the Ministry website.


Kindness & restraint

Finally, the Ministry of Health wants to reiterate messages around social media.

We join in the call for kindness and restraint on social media after reports of abuse to people with confirmed COVID-19.

We all understand there is a high level of anxiety in the community but it’s not acceptable to attack people who have been caught up in this pandemic.

We need to look out for each other. We want people with symptoms of COVID-19 to get tested so we can manage this outbreak and recognise clusters of transmission and stop them from spreading.