There have been 34 new community cases reported in New Zealand today, with no cases yet reported in Northland after the region moved into alert level 3 overnight.
Photo: AFP
There was no media conference today. In a statement, the Health Ministry said 31 of the new cases were in Auckland, with three in Waikato.
Eleven of the new community cases are yet to be linked to earlier cases. All of the new Waikato cases are linked.
The Ministry said 26 people are in hospital with the coronavirus, with seven in intensive care.
There were also two new cases in managed isolation.
There were 44 new community cases reported yesterday, a number the Ministry said was "not unexpected".
There have now been 1527 cases in the current community outbreak.
Testing and vaccinations
There were 18,568 first doses of the vaccine given in New Zealand yesterday and 67,189 second doses - the highest number to date.
The Ministry said there continued to be a strong response to calls for testing in Waikato, with 5000 swabs taken yesterday.
It urged anyone in the Waikato with any symptoms that could be Covid-19 to get a test.
"Waikato turned out in record numbers yesterday to get vaccinated with 9,946 doses given, with large increases seen in rural areas. 78.2 percent of people in the Waikato have now received their first dose and 52.6 percent are fully vaccinated. A big thank you to everyone who came forward."
Alert levels for the whole of the Waikato will be reviewed again on Monday.
The Ministry of Health also asked the Tuvalu, Samoa and Tokelau communities - particularly in Auckland - to use online virtual services or to keep their services within approved bubble sizes when celebrating White Sunday or Lotu Tamaiti tomorrow.