There have been no new confirmed cases of coronavirus today - and one of the two probable cases has been discharged from North Shore Hospital.

More than 50 North Shore staff were sent home to self-isolate after being exposed to the woman, in her 70s, who was in hospital for an unrelated condition.

She has now been sent home from hospital but remains a probable case, Director General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said in a statement this afternoon.

The woman had been on the Grand Princess cruise ship from February 11-21. A second passenger from the ship has tested negative for Covid-19 but remains in self-isolation as a precaution.

Meanwhile some staff from North Shore Hospital who had self-isolated would return to work from tomorrow, Bloomfield said. The remainder will all be back at work by March 16, assuming they remained well.

"There has been no impact on clinical care from these stand downs, and North Shore Hospital continues to provide all services as usual," he said.

Bloomfield said almost 9000 people or households had registered with Healthline to self-isolate.

There are currently 2334 people or households registered for self-isolation while another 5929 have finished their self-isolation.

While there are still five confirmed cases and two probable cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand, 47 cases are classified as "under investigation".

Another 281 cases have tested negative for the virus.

The first confirmed case of Covid-19 in New Zealand was a person in their 60s who had just returned from Iran.

The New Zealand citizen was diagnosed with the virus on February 28 and is being treated at Auckland City Hospital. Planning continues for their discharge while none of the other four confirmed cases requires hospital-level care, Bloomfield said.

Yesterday, Bloomfield said new laboratories in Auckland meant the number of tests able to be carried out each day would jump from 60 to 750.

Combined with other laboratories around the country, health officials could now process more than 1000 tests a day if required.

Bloomfield also confirmed that the Government was looking into "drive-through" clinics allowing members of the public to be tested without getting out of their vehicle.

There have been five confirmed coronavirus cases in New Zealand.

The number of confirmed cases around the world reaches almost 110,000 with 3800 reported deaths.

Some countries have been hit far worse than others.

For example, the death toll in Italy jumped from 130 to 366 within 24 hours.

The Italian Government has imposed a quarantine in Lombardy and other severely affected areas, impacting some 16 million people.

Coronavirus in NZ by the numbers

• 5 confirmed cases
• 2 probable cases
• 281 negative test results
• 47 cases classified as under investigation
• 8963 people or households have self-isolated since the outbreak began
• 2334 people or households currently in self-isolation