There are 9,241 new cases of Covid-19 in the community as officials report a further 29 deaths of people with the virus.
The Ministry of Health has issued the latest COVID-19 data, including the number of new cases, hospitalizations and deaths on Saturday afternoon.
There were 761 people hospitalized with the virus, 15 of whom were in intensive care or high-dependency wards.
The 29 recorded deaths all occurred in the past 29 days.
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In the 1:00 p.m. updates, the Ministry of Health releases a total number of people who have died “with Covid” in a certain period of time. That doesn’t necessarily mean the virus killed those people, it just means they tested positive within 28 days of their death or immediately after.
The ministry will provide more information on the cause of these deaths at a later date website. You can read how this works here here.
Ella Bates-Hermans/Stuff
The number of Covid cases and hospital admissions is rising. (File photo)
Of the 29 dead, three were from Auckland, four from Waikato, two from Bay of Plenty, three from Lakes, two from Hawke’s Bay, two from MidCentral, two from Wellington, three from Nelson Marlborough, four from Canterbury/West Coast and four from South.
Two were in their 60s, three were in their 70s, 16 were in their 80s, and eight were over 90.
Of the people who died, 19 were women and 10 were men.
Saturday’s reported deaths bring the total number of publicly reported Covid-19 deaths to 1,805. The seven-day rolling average of reported deaths is 20.
Of the 9,241 new cases of Covid-19, 308 people have recently traveled abroad.
There are now 69,842 active cases identified in the community in the past seven days and not yet classified as recovered.
This brings the total number of Covid-19 cases in New Zealand to date to 1,484,227.
Of those hospitalized with the virus, 25 were in Northland, 130 in Waitematā, 54 in Counties Manukau and 102 in Auckland.
There were 56 in Waikato, 38 in Bay of Plenty, 17 in Lakes, 28 in Hawke’s Bay and 30 in MidCentral.
There were 20 cases hospitalized in Whanganui, 16 in Taranaki, four in Tairāwhiti, nine in Wairarapa, 57 in the Capital & Coast/Hutt district, eight in Nelson Marlborough, 116 in Canterbury/West Coast, 11 in South Canterbury and 38 in Southern.
The moving average of people in hospital with Covid-19 on Saturday (727) was over 200 higher than on the same day the week before (520).
The health ministry said the increase in cases and hospitalizations “emphasizes how important it is for everyone to get 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 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.