Covid-19 death toll rises, no new cases

An Auckland woman will be counted as New Zealand’s 22nd coronavirus death, the Ministry of Health has confirmed. Director-general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield yesterday confirmed no new Covid-19 cases for the sixth straight day, with the number of confirmed and probable cases remaining at 1504. But the suspected Covid-related death at the weekend of Eileen Hunter, a 96-yearold woman from Auckland, has now been added to the official death toll, following an investigation. She was confirmed as having the virus in April and had been moved to a hospital, Bloomfield said. After presenting negative results for two tests, she was transferred back to St Margarets Hospital and Rest Home, where she was a resident. Covid-19 wasn’t her cause of death, but the death would be counted for consistency with previous cases, taking the national toll to 22, Bloomfield said. There were only eight Covid-19 cases considered to be active in the country yesterday. There had been a total 1254 confirmed cases to date. The lack of new cases was significant in showing the effectiveness of New Zealand’s border measures, Bloomfield said. The last evidence of community transmission was in early April. Recoveries continued to increase, with the new total rising by 12 to 1474 yesterday. There was no-one left in hospital with Covid-19. Bloomfield also encouraged Kiwis to ‘‘keep each other safe’’ when gatherings size limits went up to 100 today. In total, 271,690 tests had been carried out nationwide – an increase of 4255.