1 more death – total now 18
A woman in her 70s at Waitakere Hospital who was one of the residents from St Margarets Hospital and Rest Home who had been transferred to the hospital earlier this month.
Deaths keep creeping up, most of them from two rest homes. Some argue that this proves the lockdown was too severe, but it’s impossible to know what the death toll would have been if it was not as severe, except that there would almost certainly have been more.
5 more cases – total now 1,461
23 more recovered – total now 1,118
7 people in hospital (1 in ICU)
6,777 more tests – total now 115,015
So a lot more tests being done and only 5 more cases each day over the last two days
| Total | Change in last 24 hours | |
|---|---|---|
| Number of confirmed cases in New Zealand | 1,117 | 3 |
| Number of probable cases | 344 | 2 |
| Number of confirmed and probable cases | 1,461 | 5 |
| Number of cases currently in hospital | 7 | -1 |
| Number of recovered cases | 1,118 | 23 |
| Number of deaths | 18 | 1 |
Your NZ 
Conspiratoor
/ 25th April 2020So if I randomly decide to swing by the local park, wait in a queue for an hour to get a swab shoved up my nostril and back down my throat, I’m now added to the testing stats. Hey I was just curious but it seemed like the right thing to do
Is all this testing hitting the sweet spot? We will soon know
Alan Wilkinson
/ 25th April 2020Good man, C. I think I’m too isolated to be useful though. Need folk more likely to have been exposed.
Duker
/ 25th April 2020I would really like to know the post codes of those who tested positive. Clearly some would be in rest homes and others caught it as a cluster which was centered in one location.
The media could create those google map things and you could see what your post code was like.
Im sure they wont release that info as its part of the silly NZ secrecy code which applies to practically everything
Conspiratoor
/ 25th April 2020What would you do, armed with the post codes, that you don’t do now?
david in aus
/ 26th April 2020“but it’s impossible to know what the death toll would have been if it was not as severe, except that there would almost certainly have been more.”
There is no such thing as certainty. It is not clear that level 4 restriction will result in fewer deaths than level 3 as seen in Australia, which has a lower per capita death rate. For example, Taiwan has had no lockdown and also the lowest rates of infections and deaths. Italy and Spain have had lockdowns and one of the highest rates of death. The issue is the prescription of the right interventions for the circumstances.
One thing we can say is that if level 4 restrictions compared to alternative strategies saved lives, and that is of paramount value; it is logically consistent that NZ remains at level 4 until there is a vaccine or there are no new cases for months. However, it is also clear that level 4 restrictions to establish ‘elimination’ was never sustainable, and extending it for a week made little sense.
Pete George
/ 26th April 2020“it is logically consistent that NZ remains at level 4 ”
That’s not logical to me at all.
We can argue over whether different levels of lockdown would have made much difference, but now the spread of Covid has been virtually eliminated in New Zealand it is logical to gradually easy restrictions while ensuring the spread continues to be minimal.
david in aus
/ 26th April 2020“Virtually eliminated” is incorrect. With this virus, there is no such thing. It is either eliminated or we are suppressing. It only takes one case for an epidemic to start again. Tasmania has demonstrated this. One patient from the Ruby Princess cruise ship has shut down healthcare for 20% of Tasmania’s population.
Blazer
/ 26th April 2020so you favour extending it for months.?
david in aus
/ 26th April 2020@Blazer. No, I don’t. In my mind, level 4 is not superior to level 3 with more costs. My position is that level 4 was not necessary to begin with. Australia’s level 3 has ‘virtually eliminated’ COVID 19, as in PG’s parlance, and this was clear 1-2 weeks ago. The level of measures should be commensurate with the threat. This wasn’t in hindsight, I commented on that at the time. With the caveat that panic is understandable if they had no idea of the extent of spread.
Arguing the level of restriction should be the debate. I am and will be critical of the all or nothing approach: the sledgehammer versus the shrugging of shoulders. These dichotomous options were never on the table and it is disingenuous of those in power to suggest otherwise i.e. it saved lives versus doing nothing, yeah sure, but that is a strawman argument.
david in aus
/ 26th April 2020To comment on probable COVID19 cases in NZ. I spoke with a colleague working in NZ. Apparently, NZ does not test everyone. Especially those where it is uncomfortable to test, like dementia patients; but if they have symptoms and signs with close contact with a confirmed case, they are considered a probable case.
In Australia, my understanding is that they test nearly everyone.