The Ministry of Health reports 6460 new community cases of Covid-19 and 20 deaths with the virus.
There are 423 people in the hospital with the virus, including seven who are in intensive care or high dependency units.
The continuous average number of deaths over seven days is 14, and New Zealand’s total number of reported deaths with the virus is now 1,549.
In the 13:00 updates, the ministry is releasing a total number of people who died “with Covid” in a specific period.
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SUNGMI KIM / Stuff
6984 new community cases of Covid-19 were reported on Friday.
This does not necessarily mean that the virus killed those people, it just means that they tested positive within 28 days after their death or immediately thereafter.
The ministry later provided further information on the cause of those deaths on its website. You can read an explanation of how it works here.
The seven-day continuous average number of community cases is 6825. This number last Saturday was 4737.
The average age of those in the hospital is 63.
Of those whose deaths were reported Saturday, five were in their 70s, six were in their 80s and nine were older than 90.
They were from Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Lakes, Hawke’s Bay, Taranaki, MidCentral, Nelson-Marlborough, South Canterbury and Southern regions.
On Friday, there were 6,984 new community cases and 417 people in the hospital with the virus, including seven who were in intensive care or high-dependency units.
The deaths of eight people with Covid-19 have also been announced.
The ministry also warned that traditional winter illnesses are taking a toll on the health system.
“It helps our health services if everyone does their part to help us get through the winter.”
“The best thing New Zealanders can do to ensure that they and their families do not end up in hospital is to be aware of their flu and Covid-19 vaccinations and boosters.”