Officials are ready to release the latest COVID-19 data, including the number of new cases, hospitalizations and deaths.
The update is expected in a statement Saturday afternoon.
Friday there were 10,470 new community cases and 16 deaths.
There were 773 people hospitalized with Covid-19, 14 of whom were in intensive care or high dependency wards.
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The seven-day moving average of new community cases was 9,994, up from 8,310 last Friday.
Ella Bates-Hermans/Stuff
The number of Covid cases and hospital admissions is rising. (File photo)
The moving average of people in hospital with Covid-19 on Friday (700) was almost 200 higher than the same day the week before (499).
The health ministry said Friday that the increase in cases and hospitalizations “emphasizes the importance of everyone doing the basics right to help prevent infection and serious illness.”
People should stay at home if they are sick do a quick antigen test (RAT) and upload the results to My Covid recordthe ministry said.
Te Pūnaha Matatini modeler and Professor Michael Plank of the University of Canterbury said that if cases remained stable until early next week, it would be a “clear sign” that New Zealand was approaching the peak of its second Omicron wave.
As things went up, they seemed to slow down a bit, which Plank said was: “good news”.
If Aotearoa approached its second peak, it could also mean that peak was at a lower level than feared, he said.
However, it was also possible that this week was a “blip,” with school holidays potentially impacting the number of tests performed and recorded, he said.