2 Apr 2020

Number of confirmed Covid-19 cases among Māori increases to 56

2:53 pm on 2 April 2020

There are now 56 confirmed cases of Covid-19 among Māori, 10 more than yesterday.

LAKE SUCCESS, NY - MARCH 11: A lab technician begins semi-automated testing for COVID-19 at Northwell Health Labs on March 11, 2020 in Lake Success, New York.

Photo: AFP

The latest figure has jumped by 48 since Tuesday, when there was just eight cases.

Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said the Ministry of Health was looking to gather ethnic data on every person who is tested.

"As part of getting information about the number of people being tested, as opposed to the number of people testing positive, we will try to get information as much as possible about the demographics, not just geographic locations.

"If that information is available and we should be able to do it because we can link through the National Health Index number to people's NHI and work out ethnicity breakdowns."

The percentage of confirmed cases among Māori is now 7 percent.

Dr Bloomfield could not say if that number was indicative of Māori being tested less than non-Māori.

He could not say what the rate of testing was among Māori, but assured people the ministry was working on getting that data.

  • If you have symptoms of the coronavirus, call the NZ Covid-19 Healthline on 0800 358 5453 (+64 9 358 5453 for international SIMs) or call your GP - don't show up at a medical centre

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