Ninth straight day of no new cases, test centres closing

There were no new cases of Covid19 yesterday, the ninth straight day of no new cases.

The latest Ministry of Health update also confirmed there is still one active case in New Zealand.

There are no Covid patients in hospital.

The NZ Covid Tracer app by yesterday recorded 468,000 registrations — an increase of 10,000 over the 24 hours to 1pm yesterday. The ministry said using the app would help to identify, trace, test and isolate any cases of Covid-19.

More than 2000 tests were completed on Saturday, bringing the total number of tests completed to date to 280,983.

The ministry said on Saturday that dozens of Covid-19 community-based testing centres around the country were closing.

Some district health boards were now starting to tell people to go back to their GPs for Covid-19 swabbing.

Each board would make its own decision about how best to provide testing in future, which could be a mix of community-based testing centres, mobile services or primary care, the ministry said.

DHBs have been told to make sure there is equitable access to testing for those who have symptoms consistent with Covid-19, given test numbers are likely to drop as the focus goes on those showing symptoms.

The ministry was still finalising its sentinel and surveillance testing strategy, to be considered by Cabinet this week. GPs hope the test will remain free.

The number of confirmed cases remains at 1154, with 1504 confirmed or probable cases.

New Zealand may need another 20 days of no new cases before Covid19 can be said to have been eliminated. Some public health experts have called for about 28 days of no new cases before the virus is confidently considered to be eliminated — which is also in line with the ministry’s elimination strategy.

There have been no signs of community transmission since the beginning of April.

Cabinet is planning to review the level 2 settings on June 8 and will meet no later than June 22 to consider moving to level 1.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has not said what would need to happen to consider moving D-Day to a date earlier than June 22, but the director general of health’s advice will be “fundamental”.

One prominent voice calling for a move to level 1 is Deputy Prime

Minister Winston Peters, who says the health risks are outweighed by the need to address the economic devastation. That general sentiment has been dismissed by top epidemiologist Sir David Skegg.

In an article yesterday, the Prime Minister’s chief science adviser Professor Juliet Gerrard and research analyst Rachel Chiaroni-Clarke said the chance of successful elimination is now “over 90 per cent”.

But border measures will likely remain for the foreseeable future.

They said several countries had contained the virus well enough for international travel to be considered — with appropriate risk-management.