Ministry of Health Director-General Dr Ashley Bloomfield [Source: TVNZ]

The number of coronavirus cases in New Zealand has increased by 71, bringing the country’s total to 868.

Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield and Sarah Stuart-Black, Director of Civil Defence Emergency Management, both provided updates on New Zealand’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak today.

The newly announced cases are made up of 49 confirmed cases and 20 probable cases, Dr Bloomfield said. A probable case is when a test comes back negative but it’s being treated as confirmed as the person’s symptoms fit the criteria of COVID-19.

One hundred and three people have now recovered from the virus and New Zealand’s COVID-19 death toll remains at one.

At 89, New Zealand saw its highest number of cases in a single day yesterday, with Dr Ashley Bloomfield revealing that the country hadn’t yet flattened the curve. He said health officials “expect it to keep rising” before the lockdown starts to have an impact on numbers.

Before the lockdown was implemented, health officials said coronavirus cases would continue to climb for 10 days. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has said she expects cases to surpass 1000 in that four-week period.

Worldwide, coronavirus cases have now topped one million.