13 people are in hospital, with three in ICU, one of which is in a critical condition.
Dr Bloomfield announced the opening of 65 community-based assessment centres.
The percentage of community transmission has risen to 2 per cent, with this percentage expected to rise as more cases are explored.
There are 12 clusters in the country, with a new cluster at a Christchurch rest home. This includes 15 cases amongst residents and staff at the rest home and 20 residents have been moved to Birdwood hospital for care, though they don’t show major symptoms at this stage.
A DHB staff member has been assigned to the rest home to look after and care for the remaining residents. “We want to make sure they are well cared for,” says Dr Bloomfield.
The apparent levelling off in numbers is promising, says Dr Bloomfield. “We’ve avoided that exponential growth…we’re watching to see where that drops,” he says. Despite the positive numbers, Dr Bloomfield says its too early to look at moving out of level 4 lockdown.
“We can be encouraged, however we are looking at that drop in rate of increase day by day. [There is] some success so far but our aim is to stamp it out,” says Dr Bloomfield.
With winter approaching, Dr Bloomfield says the need for the virus to be stamped out is key. “We would expect…to see more [cases] happening in winter. That’s why we want to get to the lower level as soon as possible.”
