The Ministry of Health has expedited the process for formally coding the cause of death for those who are known to have died within 28 days of a COVID-19 infection or as a result of COVID-19 infection.
This means that most of the deaths that have now been publicly announced have been assessed as either having COVID-19 as the underlying cause, contributing to the death, or unrelated to the death.
As of this morning: 447 people have died with COVID-19 as the underlying cause of death. Of these, 439 died within 28 days of being reported as a case.
231 people have died with COVID-19 as a contributing cause of death. Of these, 229 died within 28 days of being reported as a case.