Wellington, Apr 6 (IANS): The last batch of people who were injured in the Whakaari/White Island volcano eruption in New Zealand, have been discharged from hospital, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday.

While the last patients being treated at National Burns Centre at Middlemore have been cleared to go home, they will receive treatment as needed, The New Zealand Herald quoted Ardern as saying.

The Prime Minister made the announcement during a press conference here, as she updated the public on the latest decisions about the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I visited Middlemore just before Christmas and met with some of the staff and some of the family and they do incredible work... I want to thank all of the health sector across the country who were involved in that response," Ardern said.

Twenty-one people were killed in the December 9, 2019 eruption.

The bodies of two of those, that of a tour guide and an Australian tourist, were lost at sea.

There were 47 people on the island at the time of eruption.

Thirteen injured patients were later transferred to Australia and another six to their home countries.