New Zealand reports 13 new cases of COVID-19 as gov't steps up health response

According to a statement released Saturday afternoon by New Zealand Ministry of Health, the country recorded eight new confirmed and five new probable cases of COVID-19 overnight, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 1,422. Twenty people are currently being treated in hospital, including three people in ICU.

Although community transmission constitutes only 2 percent of the total COVID-19 cases in New Zealand, there are 16 clusters of COVID-19 outbreaks across the country, including five significant clusters within aged residential care facilities.

New Zealand has reported 11 deaths caused by COVID-19.

The country has conducted a total of 79,078 COVID-19 tests national wide. Targeted testings to help determine whether there is any undetected community transmission have taken place in Queenstown, Waikato, Canterbury, and Auckland.

Meanwhile, the New Zealand government announced additional investment for health services with 200 million New Zealand dollars (120.6 million U.S. dollars) to purchase personal protective equipment (PPE), 26 million New Zealand dollars (15.7 million U.S. dollars) for residential aged care providers to keep COVID-19 at bay and 35 million New Zealand dollars (21.1 million U.S. dollars) to boost funding for essential medicines.

"This is an unprecedented investment and reflects the continuing demand for PPE across our hospitals, primary care, aged care, home care and essential services workforces," said Health Minister David Clark.

New Zealand declared a national emergency and entered into a national lockdown from March 26. People were urged to stay home to contain community transmission of COVID-19. The country has closed its border to non-residents from March 19.

From April 10, passengers from overseas entering New Zealand are required to go through government managed isolation for 14 days before any onward travel in New Zealand.