Eight new cases and two deaths

THE number of new Covid19 cases has continued to slide, with just one new case in the South and eight across New Zealand announced yesterday.

However, two more Covid19 deaths were confirmed; a Waikato man who has become the first victim of a cluster linked to St Patrick’s Day celebrations in a Matamata bar, and another resident of the Rosewood Rest Home in Christchurch.

Those deaths took the national toll to 11; the death of an Invercargill man suspected to be from Covid19 is not part of that tally, as postmortem results have yet to be received.

The new southern case was confirmed in Queenstown Lakes, where on Thursday sentinel testing of randomly selected members of the public started, to assess the extent of any community transmission of the virus.

Southern District Health Board medical officer of health Susan Jack said 343 people were tested on Thursday and twothirds of the results had been negative so far.

“The results we have received so far are certainly an encouraging sign that there is not widespread presence of the virus in Queenstown,’’ Dr Jack said.

‘‘However, we await the remaining results, and know that even one positive case would be significant”.

Dr Jack thanked all Queenstown residents who had volunteered for testing.

‘‘I’ve been heartened by the response, including the speed of our health professionals to mobilise and the willingness of members of the public to be tested to help us get a better picture of Covid19 in the community,’’ she said.

Finance Minister Grant Robertson said the drop in new cases was encouraging, but that it would take continuing positive signs for Cabinet to decide to drop the Covid19 Alert Level to 3 when it meets on Monday.