Ministry of Health Covid-19 update
May 15, 2020
Today we are reporting one new confirmed case of Covid-19.
This means New Zealand’s combined total of confirmed and probable cases is now 1498, of which 1148 are confirmed.
Today’s confirmed case is linked to the Marist cluster in Auckland and was identified through recent follow-up testing of the school community. The person first had symptoms nearly two months ago and had a previous negative test. The result is considered a ‘weak positive’ and the person, who has been in isolation through the lockdown period, is not considered infectious now.
We have previously identified instances of ‘weak positive’ cases, which can occur some time after an individual’s illness.
We now have 1421 people reported as having recovered from Covid-19, an increase of 10 on yesterday. This is 95 per cent of all confirmed and probable cases.
There are now just 56 active cases across the country.
Today there are two people receiving hospital level care for Covid-19 – one each in Auckland and Middlemore hospitals. Neither are in ICU.
We still have 16 significant clusters.
There are no additional deaths to report.
There were 7174 laboratory tests processed yesterday, which brings the total number of tests completed to 216,787.
Level 2
The Director-General of Health says today’s confirmed case reinforces the long tail of the Covid-19 outbreak in New Zealand.
“While we do not consider this case to be infectious, it does demonstrate once again that we must stay vigilant. Covid-19 will continue to linger, so we need to keep consistently doing the things which will help keep all New Zealanders safe and allow us to continue to relax restrictions,” says Dr Ashley Bloomfield.
“Heading into this first weekend of Level 2, here’s what we all have to do:
· most importantly – if you’re sick, stay home. Don’t go to work or school. Don’t socialise
· keep your distance from other people when you’re out in public, including on transport
· if you have symptoms of cold or flu call your doctor or Healthline immediately and get tested
· good hand hygiene will continue to be a simple and effective tool to keep Covid-19 at bay
· keep your social gatherings to a maximum of 10 people at once
· keep track of where you’ve been and who you’ve seen to help with contact tracing if we need it.
“Stay healthy and stay safe New Zealand”.
