New Zealand confirms 76 new cases of COVID-19

New Zealand reported 76 new confirmed and 13 new probable cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, bringing the total number of confirmed and probable infections to 797 in the country.

There were no additional deaths and 92 people had recovered, Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield from the Ministry of Health said at a press conference.

Bloomfield said currently 13 people were in hospital with COVID-19, including two in ICU and all patients are stable.

About half of the confirmed cases are linked to overseas travel, and about 31 percent of the cases are related to confirmed cases, he said, adding 1 percent of the confirmed cases resulted from community transmission.

Eight laboratories across the country processed 2,563 tests, bringing the total to more than 26,000 tests processed to date, he said, adding two more labs will be added next week, with the total capacity of the ten labs to process more than 4,000 tests a day.

"There is plenty of personal protective equipment (PPE) available in New Zealand, more is on the way and clinical advice is available about recommended use," the official said.

New Zealand entered the national lockdown last Wednesday, which will last for at least four weeks.

The national state of emergency has been officially extended for seven days.

Bloomfield said anyone struggling with lockdown is advised to call the government hotline to discuss any mental health issues.