0 infectious Covid-19 cases in Waikato
Region hits milestone in coronavirus fight with a clean sweep of Covid cases
There are now no infectious cases of Covid-19 in Waikato.
The Waikato District Health Board confirmed to Stuff that the region had recorded its first day of no infectious cases of the virus since its first case on March 18 but urged people to stay vigilant in the face of the pandemic.
In Waikato, a total of 188 people tested positive – with one death and 186 people now recovered. One person was still technically recovering and therefore deemed an ‘‘active’’ case, but that person was not infectious, a DHB spokesperson said.
A total of 96 per cent of New Zealand’s 1503 confirmed and probable cases of Covid-19 have recovered, the Health Ministry said yesterday.
‘‘This is great news for the Waikato and our team of 426,000 has done a great job,’’ Waikato District Health Board chief executive Kevin Snee said.
‘‘But Covid-19 is still out there, so we must play it safe. It’s important that people still follow strict hand hygiene and comply with the Government’s social-distancing rules to reduce the risk of a second wave of the virus.’’
New Zealand recorded its third day in a row of zero new cases and there were 35 active cases across the country, with one person in Middlemore Hospital.
Twenty-one people have died from the virus in New Zealand.
There were two significant clusters of coronavirus in the region – one stemming from a St Patrick’s Day party at Redoubt bar in Matamata and another at the Assisi rest home and hospital on the outskirts of Hamilton.
Seventy-seven cases were connected through transmission to the Matamata cluster with 76 recorded as recovered by the ministry yesterday. The Assisi rest home cluster had 15 cases among staff and residents and is close to being closed, according to ministry guidelines that say the milestone is reached when there have been no new cases for two incubation periods – 28 days – from the date when all cases complete isolation.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern urged everyone to remain vigilant under level 2. Covid19 was still present in the community and one case can easily become 90 cases, she said.
The last recorded case of community transmission was in early April and there had now been three cycles since that case, and no new clusters in more than a month.
Although this was reassuring, risk still needed to be managed, Ardern said. ‘‘We are doing well, our plan is working. We have avoided the worst of the health outcomes other countries have experienced.’’
People should maintain physical distancing, good hand hygiene and stay home if they were ill, she said.