Two more people contract Covid-19, no further deaths, as country waits for tomorrow's alert level decision

Two more people in New Zealand have contracted Covid-19, the Ministry of Health has confirmed today.

Both new cases are confirmed cases, one of which is linked to the St Margaret’s Rest Home in Auckland and the second is a person who recently returned from overseas.

The case linked to the rest home is a household contact of an earlier case linked to St Margaret's and is not a healthcare worker.

"Today's two cases remind us that Covid-19 is a tricky virus and it will keep exploiting any opportunity to infiltrate our communities," the Ministry of Health said in a statement.

"Please, continue to follow the rules for Alert Level 3 and play it safe. Slackening off now only gives Covid-19 unnecessary opportunities to re-establish itself in New Zealand."

No new Covid-19 deaths in New Zealand were recorded today. The national Covid-19 death toll remains at 21.

The total number of people who have or have had Covid-19 is now 1494, made up of 1144 confirmed and 350 probable cases.

Two people with Covid-19 remain hospital, one in Middlemore and the other in North Shore. Neither person is in intensive care.

Today only three people in New Zealand who have the virus have recovered, bringing the total number of recovered cases to 1371.

In New Zealand, there are 16 significant clusters of Covid-19, four of which are now closed. The number of cases linked to the Ruby Princess cruise ship has increased by one, due to the linking of an existing case. 

Yesterday, almost 7300 tests for Covid-19 were carried out in New Zealand, bringing the total number of tests to more than 190,300.

"Sincere thanks to the health sector staff across the system who have taken swabs, ensured swabs are accurately recorded and transported and have processed these rapidly in our labs," the Ministry of Health said.

"Their hard work over the last two and half months has been a key pillar of our response and success to date." 

The Ministry reminded Kiwis New Zealand is still at Alert Level 3, urging people to keep their distance from others outside their bubble, keep working and learning from home where possible, and to stay local.

There was no live 1pm briefing today, with the Ministry of Health releasing the numbers in a statement instead.