The Ministry of Health has today confirmed that a man who died from coronavirus in Wellington Hospital on Friday was infected at a Bluff wedding that led to a cluster of cases.
Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield confirmed the link at today's press briefing.
The man who died from Covid-19 was in his 80s, and is one of 85 confirmed cases from the wedding.
It comes after 70 people joined a Southland couple to celebrate their wedding on Saturday, March 21 - just days before the nationwide lockdown began at midnight on March 25.
“We all felt safe, we all went to the wedding and we all had a fantastic time and no one was sick at the wedding - you gotta remember, no one felt sick,” wedding guest Murray Culbert told 1 NEWS earlier this week.
Days later, they discovered one of the guests had tested positive for coronavirus.
Mr Culbert, who attended the event with his wife Linda, fell ill one week after the event.
“At the time, because I didn’t feel too unwell. As it got on I started to get a sore throat and it changed as well,” he said.
“The scariest part was my wife and I tested positive and my daughter was fairly stressed out ‘cause we tried to isolate her and she read what the virus could do to people."
"I think after she tested positive, even though it was scary for her as well, it was a little more relaxed, as in we could be together and try and fight this together."
Health officials say the cluster could have been significantly higher had a nationwide lockdown not been imposed.
“We're seeing quite a number of clusters, not just within New Zealand, but it's been observed across the world, that social occasions act as a very efficient vector for spread of disease," Director of Public Health Dr Caroline McElnay said.
While it has since been confirmed that there was an overseas travel link, the guests aren’t interested in placing blame.
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