Death toll rises by one, school rules clarified

An Auckland rest home resident in her 70s is the latest to die from the novel coronavirus in New Zealand, as the country counts five new cases of the virus.

The woman was a one of the six residents of St Margaret’s Hospital and Rest Home in Te Atatu who caught Covid-19. The residents were transferred to Waitakere Hospital on Friday. She had an underlying health condition and died on Monday. As with all Covid19 patients in hospitals, her family were not able to visit her.

Director-general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield, at a press conference yesterday, confirmed the death and said five new cases of Covid-19 has been identified by health officials in the past day.

The five new cases, two confirmed and three probable, brought the total number who have contracted the virus to 1445.

Another 32 people with Covid19 recovered on Monday, bringing the total recovered to 1006. There remained 12 people in hospital, and three people in intensive care beds in Middlemore, Dunedin and North Shore hospitals – though none were in a critical condition.

Bloomfield said the a number St Margaret’s rest home staff were in precautionary self-isolation due to coming into contact with Covid-19 cases, meaning full staffing could not be maintained.

‘‘So in addition to those six residents that were transferred to Waitakere Hospital because they had Covid-19 infection, a further nine residents from St Margaret’s were transferred to North Shore hospital on the 18th of April.

‘‘These residents are not Covid19 positive but are considered close contacts so are being monitored.’’

There remained 16 clusters of the virus, and four more cases had been connected to a cluster. Four cases had no identifiable source of the virus.

A total of 3203 tests were processed on Monday, with the total tests run nearing 90,000.

Bloomfield said there were sufficient stocks for testing, with 83,000 tests in supply.

Community testing would continue in Taranaki, Northland and Tairawhiti this week, with a particular focus on testing Ma¯ ori and Pacific communities.

Education Minister Chris Hipkins, also at yesterday’s press conference, said schools and early education centres would be expected to reopen to some students on April 29, and would receive further guidance before this.

Concerns had been raised about maintaining physical distancing between children, which Hipkins said would be difficult. However, he said the public health advice showed it was safe for children to learn together again.

‘‘We’ve reached the point where the director-general of health is confident there is no widespread community transmission . . . So the chance of it coming through the school gate or door is low,’’ he said.

Schools would only be open for families who needed to send their children to school, and schools would not be expected to ‘‘police’’ this, Hipkins said.

Schools and early learning centres would be open for cleaning, maintenance and any other preparations in the lead-up to a teacher-only day on April 28.

Universities would mostly operate remotely, only allowing staff and students to attend when crucial – such as for hands-on research. ‘‘If students went home to join their family bubble, they must stay home,’’ Hipkins said.

‘‘If [tertiary] students went home to join their family bubble, they must stay home [during level three].’’

Chris Hipkins Education Minister