There have been two new deaths and eight new cases of COVID-19 recorded in New Zealand, Director of Public Health Dr Caroline McElnay confirmed at a Friday press conference.
One of the deaths was a man in his nineties at Waikato Hospital. He was admitted on Saturday night and died on Thursday. He had a connection to the Matamata cluster.
The second death was a woman in her eighties at Burwood Hospital in Christchurch. She was part of the group transferred to the hospital from Rosewood Rest Home. She had an underlying health condition.
Both people didn't have their families around them when they died due to the lockdown conditions, but were supported by nurses.
There have now been 11 deaths from COVID-19 in New Zealand.
Finance Minister Grant Robertson said the new deaths are a sad reminder of the need to stay home and follow lockdown rules. He stressed that while information about alert level 3 has been released, the country remains at level 4.
The new cases are broken down as two confirmed and six probable, taking New Zealand's total to 1409. Dr McElnay confirmed 816 people have recovered, up 46 on Thursday. Fourteen people are in hospital, with three in ICU. Two are critical.
It's the first time New Zealand has reported new cases in the single digits in weeks.
"It's an encouraging sign for alert level 4 doing its job. But I don't think we should get ahead of ourselves. We've still got a two or three more days worth of data to go before we reach the point of making a decision," Robertson said.
Dr McElnay says 128 healthcare workers have the virus. About half were infected outside of the workplace.
A total of 4241 tests were processed on Thursday, with a rolling seven-day average of 2674. The total undertaken is 74,401.
District Health Boards, including in Queenstown, Waikato and Canterbury, are arranging for mobile testing clinics and targeted testing.
Surveillance testing - where a sample of the population is tested to make sure no silent outbreaks are happening - was conducted at a Queenstown supermarket on Thursday. Results have been returned for half of the 343 people tested there and all have been negative.
In Canterbury on Friday, 250 people have been tested at a supermarket, while surveillance testing is also happening in five Waikato towns. This testing is voluntary.
Supermarkets were chosen as the sites for this testing as supermarket workers "are in contact with a lot of people so they would be highly exposed if there was something circulating in the community," Dr McElnay says.
The Prime Minister and her Cabinet will decide on Monday whether to lift New Zealand out of alert level 4 lockdown.
On Thursday, Jacinda Ardern outlined what alert level 3 could look like if we were to transition there next week. People would still be instructed to stay at their residences at most times, but more businesses would be open and bubbles could be extended in some situations, such as to include a caregiver.
Ardern said there are several "primary factors" being considered in regards to what would trigger moving New Zealand down a level.
"Are we seeing that exponential growth that tells us that you've lost control? Are we seeing indicators of widespread community transmission? Are we seeing, in particular regions, any of those signs as well? And then we look at all of the things that then help you maintain where you are - contact tracing and the scale of contact tracing, effectiveness of quarantine, and isolation measures," she said.
The Government is looking at developing phone applications which track individuals' movement and show other phones the person has been near. This would allow quick identification of who may have been exposed to someone with the virus. Bluetooth-enabled cards that track people are also being considered.
There are nearly 2.2 million cases of the virus worldwide, and 145,000 people have died.
What we know about the coronavirus
The WHO was first notified of cases of the virus SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2) in Wuhan, China on December 31. It was identified as a coronavirus on January 7 and can spread via human-to-human transmission. It causes the coronavirus COVID-19 illness.
The virus is primarily spread through droplets in the air after someone sneezes or coughs, however, it can also be contracted by touching surfaces where the illness is present. The length of time the virus stays alive on surfaces isn't fully understood, but some studies have suggested that on some materials it could be for days.
"Common signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death," the WHO says.
"Standard recommendations to prevent infection spread include regular hand washing, covering mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, thoroughly cooking meat and eggs. Avoid close contact with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness such as coughing and sneezing."
There is currently no vaccine for the sickness.
