There has been a huge, and expected, surge in Covid-19 numbers, with a record 810 new cases in the community today.
There are 32 people in hospital, the Ministry of Health said this afternoon.
Of those who have been hospitalised, 27 are in Auckland. There are also single cases in Whangarei, Tauranga, Rotorua, Wellington and Christchurch. There are no patients in ICU.
The location of new community cases is: Northland (13), Auckland (623), Waikato (81), Bay of Plenty (11), Lakes (11), Hawke’s Bay (8), MidCentral (3), Whanganui (6), Taranaki (5), Tairawhiti (3), Wellington (15), Hutt Valley (10), Nelson Marlborough (2), Canterbury (3), South Canterbury (2), Southern (14).
Another 18 cases have been identified at the border, five of them historical.
The 810 cases is a significant jump from yesterday’s previous daily record of 454 cases.
“The sharp increase in new cases today is another reminder that, as expected, the highly transmissible Omicron variant is now spreading in our communities as we have seen in other countries,” the ministry said.
“Our expectation is that cases will continue to increase over the coming weeks and we’re asking people to do all they can to slow the spread of the virus and protect themselves and their whānau.”
There were 22,196 Covid-19 tests in the last 24 hours, slightly up on the last week’s average.
All 20 DHBs have now passed the 90 per cent mark for first vaccine doses, with Northland the most recent to hit that milestone.
The ministry also confirmed that there were no positive Covid cases linked to a large-scale protest on Parliament grounds in Wellington.
“There are a number of rumours circulating about possible cases of Covid-19 linked to the protest.”
“Wellington’s Regional Public Health Unit has confirmed that there are currently no notified positive cases linked to the protest.
“However, we encourage everyone to be vigilant and to get a test if they become unwell with symptoms of Covid-19.”
Another 49,523 people got their booster shot yesterday, slightly down on the previous day. In all, 1,891,241 booster doses have been administered, or 59 per cent of the eligible population. A total of 214,000 New Zealanders have so far got boosters during the ministry’s weeklong Big Boost campaign.
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