Can't Make This Sh!t Up: New Zealand Officials Add A Man Shot And Killed To COVID Death Stats

The Ministry of Health has added an additional death to the national Covid-19 figures on Thursday.

1News understands this person is Robert James Hart, a father of two who was shot dead in a driveway in the Auckland suburb of New Lynn.

Since his death on November 5, the 40-year-old tested positive for the virus.

Police have since confirmed these details.

“An additional death in Auckland has today been added to the national Covid-19 figures,” the Ministry of Health said.

“This person’s death is subject to a police investigation and the Ministry will not be commenting further on it, at this stage.”

Three people have been charged so far over Hart’s death, and police are seeking a fourth person.

Hart is included in New Zealand's Covid-19 figures because of a change in the way the Ministry of Health reports on deaths.

"The clinical criteria will continue to be guided by WHO definition which is basically to report any death where the person had an acute Covid-19 infection regardless of what the cause of death might be," Director-General of Health Dr. Ashley Bloomfield told RNZ.

"We will be now publicly reporting confirmed deaths as those where the death documents or an investigation has shown that the cause was Covid-19 and we will report other deaths where the cause of death is not certain but the person has Covid-19.

"We will report them separately, and the latter group will be classified as 'under investigation while we await further information from clinicians or a coroner's follow up."