Ministry of Health Covid-19 update
Sunday, May 24, 2020
There are no new cases of Covid-19 to report in New Zealand today.
Our total number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 remains at 1154, which is the number we report to the World Health Organization.
Our combined total of confirmed and probable cases remains at 1504.
One additional person has recovered, taking recoveries to 1456. This represents 97 per cent of all confirmed and probable cases as having recovered from Covid-19.
There are no additional deaths to report.
There remains one person receiving hospital-level care for Covid-19; they are in Middlemore and are not in ICU.
Yesterday our laboratories completed 3302 tests, bringing the total number of tests completed to date to 259,152.
NZ Covid Tracer app
The NZ Covid Tracer app has now recorded 354,000 registrations, 30,000 more than at the same time yesterday.
We continue to encourage as many people as possible to download the app – it will help us identify, trace, test and isolate any cases of Covid-19. The faster we can do these steps the less likely it is the virus can spread in our communities.
The Ministry is also very supportive of the work done by businesses to get their unique QR code which people can use to record having been there.
To reinforce on privacy:
- personal information and contact details provided through the app will only be used to get in touch if an individual is identified as a close contact of a Covid-19 case
- information about the locations individuals choose to record is stored securely on their phone and is not shared with contact tracers unless an individual chooses to do so.
In either case, the personal information shared with the Ministry is held for public health purposes only and will never be used for enforcement.
The NZ Covid Tracer app, already being used by Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield, is strongly supported by New Zealand’s Privacy Commissioner who has said New Zealanders should feel secure in downloading and using the app.
