Published Tuesday, June 9, 2020
New Zealand has no covid-19 cases

 By  the A.M. Costa Rica wire services

There are no active cases and no new cases of covid-19 in New Zealand, the Ministry of Health has confirmed on Monday.

According to the ministry, they were notified by Auckland Regional Public Health that its remaining case has been symptom-free for 48 hours and is regarded as recovered.

However, the person has now been released from isolation, they said.

Their case had been linked to the St Margaret's Hospital and Rest Home cluster in Auckland.

"This is really good news for the person concerned, and it's also something the rest of New Zealand can take heart from," Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said.

The ministry said the individual was listed earlier on as a probable case but was removed when they tested negative for covid-19.

At a later date, when they again became sick, they tested positive. And included in the national tally as a confirmed case, the ministry said.

Bloomfield said it's the first time since Feb. 28 that there have been no active cases in the rest home.

There are also no new cases of covid-19 in New Zealand for the 17th day in a row, and no further deaths.

The last reported new case of covid-19 in this country was on May 22.

The total number of confirmed cases remains at 1,154. The combined total of confirmed and probable cases remains at 1,504. The number of recovered cases is now 1,482. And there is no one in a hospital receiving care for covid-19.

The ministry said 800 tests were completed yesterday, bringing the total number of tests completed to date to 294,848. Eight significant clusters have closed, which is unchanged in 24 hours.

Government leaders push to loosen restrictions to alert level 1 while keeping the borders closed.

National Party leader Todd Muller said every day of level 2 was another blow for businesses and there can be no justification for remaining in it.

Finance Minister Grant Robertson said he was as "keen as anyone" to move to level 1 but Cabinet's decision would be informed by the latest advice.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the move to covid-19 alert level 1 on Monday.





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