WELLINGTON, Aug 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) – New Zealand reported 13 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 today, said Director-General of Health, Ashley Bloomfield, from New Zealand’s Ministry of Health.
Of these cases, 12 were from the community in Auckland and one was from a managed isolation facility.
The 13 new cases brought the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in New Zealand to 1,271, which was the number the country reported to the World Health Organisation.
The case from the managed isolation is a child returning New Zealand from Afghanistan via Dubai on Aug 3. From early investigation, the 12 cases in the community were linked to the current identified cluster as close contacts of previously confirmed cases, said Bloomfield.
A total of 23,682 tests were conducted across the country in the past 24 hours, which brought the total test number in New Zealand to 571,942.
The public were urged by Health Minister, Chris Hipkins, to take tests only when they were symptomatic to avoid delays and to give relief to testing capacity.
Hipkins also urged the public to be cautious about rumours and misinformation on the social media, as one particular rumour was shared widely overnight in the community, causing online bully and damage to the family involved.
People were also encouraged to download official COVID-19 contact tracing app. New Zealand businesses were asked to display contact tracing QR code for people to scan and register.
New Zealand went to a month-long national Alert Level 4 lock-down in late Mar, and declared an early success of the COVID-19 battle in June.– NNN-AGENCIES
