Ministry of Health Covid-19 update
May 28, 2020
Today there are no new cases of Covid-19 to report in New Zealand.
Our total number of confirmed cases 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.
There are 12 additional recovered cases meaning this total is now 1474. Only eight cases remain active.
We have been asked to provide some comment following the death of Eileen Hunter, a resident from St Margaret’s Hospital & Rest Home. We are providing Eileen’s name following a request to do so by her family.
Eileen was in her 90s and passed away on Sunday. She was much loved by those who knew her.
Eileen was confirmed as having Covid-19 in mid-April and had been transferred from St Margaret’s to Waitakere hospital and then to North Shore hospital. Once recovered, with two negative test results, she was transferred back to St Margaret’s.
The family has asked the Ministry to pass on their thanks for the care of their mother at St Margaret’s and at Waitakere and North Shore hospitals.
In turn, we extend our sympathy to her family for their loss.
It is important to note that Eileen was regarded as having recovered from Covid-19 at the time of her death and Covid-19 is not recorded as the primary cause of her death.
After consideration, we have decided to include Eileen’s death in our overall tally of Covid-19 related deaths, consistent with our inclusive approach to date.
This means the number of Covid-19 related deaths in New Zealand is now 22.
Again today, there is no one in New Zealand receiving hospital-level care for Covid-19.
Yesterday our laboratories completed 4255 tests, bringing the total number of tests completed to date to 271,690.
NZ Covid Tracer app
The NZ Covid Tracer app has now recorded 436,000 registrations – that’s an increase of 14,000 since this 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.
We also recognise the work being done by businesses to get their unique QR codes up and running, with 18,500 posters having been created as of this morning.
World Health Organization
Our numbers today reinforce that New Zealand is continuing to do well, however we need to continue working together to keep ourselves in that position.
In recent days, the World Health Organization has reminded countries about the need to be careful when relaxing alert level restrictions.
As the WHO has observed, epidemics often come in waves and a second wave will continue to be a possibility in New Zealand, even in a number of months from now.
Continuing the hard work by all New Zealanders will ensure we continue our zero cases, our downwards trajectory and don’t face a second peak.
Heading into a long weekend, stay safe and well.
