There's been both cautious optimism and tragedy in New Zealand this week, as while the daily number of COVID-19 cases is falling, three new deaths have also been recorded.
As of Saturday afternoon, New Zealand has reported 1312 cases of SARS-CoV-2, the infectious coronavirus which causes the COVID-19 respiratory illness, up 362 on last Saturday.
Broken down, there are 1035 cases of the illness confirmed in the country, while 277 are probable cases. Probable cases are those where a test has come back negative, but a doctor believes the patient likely has the illness considering their travel history, exposure or symptoms.
Overall, 422 people recovered from the virus, up significantly from the 127 last week. The Ministry of Health says an individual has recovered once it has been more than 10 days since the onset of their symptoms and they have been symptom-free for 48 hours.
There are 15 people in hospital, five of which are currently in an intensive care unit. One patient is in a critical condition. Four people have died from COVID-19, three of which were confirmed over the last two days.
Find last week's break down of the cases here for comparison.
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Where are the cases?
The latest data from the Ministry of Health shows that the Southern District Health Board (DHB) continues to have more cases of COVID-19 than any other DHB, with 207. It's followed by Waitemata, Auckland, Waikato and Canterbury. Tairawhiti continues to have the fewest with only a single case in that DHB. The Ministry of Health website doesn't break the data down into individual towns or areas, however, some DHBs are providing more specific information on their websites.
Total cases by DHB
- Southern: 207
- Waitemata: 183
- Auckland: 173
- Waikato: 167
- Canterbury: 135
- Counties Manukau: 98
- Capital and Coast: 86
- Nelson Marlborough: 48
- Bay of Plenty: 42
- Hawke's Bay: 38
- MidCentral: 28
- Northland: 25
- Hutt Valley: 21
- Lakes: 14
- Taranaki: 14
- South Canterbury: 11
- Wairarapa: 9
- Whanganui: 7
- West Coast: 5
- Tairawhiti: 1