There were no new cases of COVID-19 in New Zealand today.

Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said that was news to be celebrated, but said it was important to remember that result was symbolic of the effort everybody had put in during the lockdown and was not an invitation to return to normal.

“We are still wanting to be sure that there is no undetected community transmission,” he said.

“Reflecting on the incubation period of this virus, it’s really later this week that we will be confident if we are or are not seeing new cases popping up in the community.”

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the message remained the same: “Stay the course”.

The Government will decide on Monday next week whether to move the country out of Alert Level 3 and she said there would be many factors other than just case numbers influencing that decision, including how well people were adhering to physical distancing and public gathering restrictions, and the adoption of good hygiene practices.

In the meantime, anyone who has cold or flu-like symptoms, however mild, is urged to get tested quickly. 

“People delaying getting tested means a tougher job stamping out cases of COVID-19 if the spread of the virus has been occurring for longer,” Dr Bloomfield said. 

It was also advisable to check with your GP practice that your phone contact details were up to date as that helped if they were needed for contact tracing.

One case previously classified as probable has now been confirmed as COVID-19 so while the total number of cases in New Zealand remains unchanged from yesterday at 1438, the number of confirmed cases has risen to 1137.

1276 people have now recovered from the virus – 86% of all cases.

Seven people are currently in hospital, none in intensive care.

In the Southern District Health Board area 205 people have recovered, leaving nine active cases of the 216 reported.

According to the latest World Health Organisation situation report, there have been 3,349,786 cases confirmed cases worldwide (82,763 in the previous 24 hours). There were 8657 more deaths in the previous 24 hours, bringing the total to 238,628.