Director of Public Health Dr Caroline McElnay:

Two more deaths today – older individuals with underlying health problems. So the total deaths are now 4.

A man in his 80s died in Wellington Hospital. He first became ill in 26 March and is linked to a cluster.

A man in his 70s died in Burwood Hospital, who was moved there from Rosewood Rest Home. It is the second death from there.

Thirty people linked to Rosewood Rest Home in Christchurch are confirmed to have Covid-19 or probably have it, including 13 residents and 18 staff and two other cases who have had close contact. They are still investigating how Covid was transmitted to the rest home.

There is a new Christchurch cluster in Christchurch at the George Manning Rest Home.+

Another new cluster is linked to a the Spectrum daycare facility providing day care for individuals with intellectual disabilities

29 new cases today (20 confirmed and 9 probable) bringing the total cases to 1,312.

422 now recovered (+49)

15 in hospital, 5 in Intensive care (1 critical)

Note: The number of confirmed and probable cases reported in the last 24 hours includes cases which were entered on an earlier date as ‘under investigation’ or ‘suspected’ whose status has now been changed to confirmed or probable.

View details of confirmed and probable cases.

View details of significant COVID-19 clusters.

View testing data by region.

Greater Wellington Regional Council has released details on air quality for the first full week of lockdown showing dramatic falls in pollutants across the region.

Air pollution from traffic emissions measured at its Wellington City station from 26 March to 1 April dropped by 72 percent as a weekly average compared to the same period over the previous four years (2016-2019). Levels measured at its Upper Hutt station, which are usually much lower than Wellington City, fell by 63 percent.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/414011/covid-19-updates-from-new-zealand-and-around-the-world-on-11-april

Patient numbers at emergency departments in Auckland, Northland fall

Patient volumes at some emergency departments in Auckland and Northland have fallen by up to 50 percent in recent weeks, leaving district health boards worried people are delaying seeking treatment.

Longer jury trials hiatus ‘devastating’ but understandable – defence lawyer

Chief Justice Helen Winkelmann shut down the trials last month until May, and that has now been extended another two months due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Courts are still hearing priority proceedings during the lockdown which include matters of individual liberty, family violence and cases where a defendant is being held in custody – unless the cases involve witnesses.

Elizabeth Hall from the Defence Lawyers Association said the backlog could cause year-long delays in some cases, and defendants could decide to plead guilty rather than wait.

“The people who are awaiting trial are presumed to be innocent.

“So the risk is that people who are in fact innocent feel the pressure to plead guilty just to get it over and done with, because they can’t bear waiting and because they may end up being in custody longer waiting than if they just pleaded and got it out of the way.”

She said extending the suspension of jury trials would have a “devastating impact” on victims, witnesses and defendants.

Hall said lawyers understood that convening juries created a health risk and the only option was to cancel them for now.

Director of Public Health Dr Caroline McElnay:

The second death reported today, a woman in her 90s who has been in Burwood Hospital. She was one of twenty people transferred from a rest home earlier in the week. Family weren’t able to be with the woman in hospital because of the lockdown.

So the total deaths are now 2.

44 new cases today (23 confirmed and 21 probable) bringing the total cases to 1283.

14 new cases are linked to existing clusters.

373 now recovered (+56)

16 in hospital, 4 in Intensive care (2 critical)

That’s a few more cases than yesterday but it was expected that totals would fluctuate.

The highest number of tests yesterday not resulting in significantly more cases – a good sign.

View details of confirmed and probable cases.

View details of significant COVID-19 clusters.

View testing data by region.

In the south of the South Island, the police say hundreds of vehicles were stopped at 10 checkpoints yesterday, but only a handful were breaching the lockdown. Most drivers were either essential workers or heading to the supermarket.