Auckland's Covid-19 case numbers are now a third of what they were at the peak of the city's outbreak, but 100 people are being admitted to hospitals within the Auckland region each day, health authorities say.
Today's Ministry of Health media briefing was presented by Northern Region Health Coordination Centre chief clinical officer Andrew Old, The Fono chief executive Tevita Funaki and Southpoint Family Doctors' Dr Fiona Shepherd.
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Auckland reported 2982 new community cases today, down from 3629 yesterday, and Dr Old said case numbers in Auckland have been on the decline for the past two weeks.
But he added that while Auckland hospitalisation admissions were falling, an average of 100 people were being admitted to hospitals within the Auckland region each day.
He also said that up to half of all Covid-19 cases may be going unreported and the actual case numbers may be double what was being reported.
However, he said modelling had accounted for the fact that many cases were likely to go unreported.
With the government's decision to ease Covid-19 restrictions, Dr Old urged people to be mindful of people who are disproportionately at risk of being harmed by the virus.
He said with winter approaching, the combination of Covid-19, RSV and influenza posed a challenge to the health system in coming months.
Dr Old said people should get their flu vaccination if eligible and parents should ensure their children were up to date with their vaccinations, particularly the likes of MRR vaccine.
Cases in the Pacific community
Dr Old said Pacific peoples have made up 28 percent of all cases in the Auckland Omicron outbreak, but this peaked at 58 percent earlier in the outbreak. Pacific peoples also made up 43 percent of all hospitalisations in the outbreak, this also peaked above 50 percent earlier in the outbreak.
Dr Old said the number of new Covid-19 cases in Pacific peoples had halved for each of the past two weeks and new Pacific hospitalisations due to Covid-19 had also dropped by about 17 percent week-on-week.
He said Pacific health providers had administered more than 100,000 Covid-19 tests within their communities.
"From the outset, the way Pacific providers have worked together to do what was needed with skill, persistence, humility and positivity has been inspiring."
The Fono chief executive Tevita Funaki said Covid-19 continued to hit Pacific Peoples hard with one of the highest hospitalisation rates due to a high volume of cases. More than 70,000 Pacific people have contracted Covid-19 since August.
Funaki said the collaborative approach between Auckland health providers had been key to administering suitable care and resources to areas where it was needed most.
Funaki said key concerns around Covid-19 amongst many Pacific families included access to basic supplies and employment security. Health workers were trying to contact affected families within 24 hours of a positive test being reported within a household.
Southpoint Family Doctors' Dr Fiona Shepherd said she was proud of the collective effort put in by Pacific health providers during the Auckland outbreak.
She said Pacific health providers' hard work had been rewarding in a time of significant hardship for many communities.
Yesterday, Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said Māori had the highest rate of community cases of Covid-19 and while case numbers were dropping, the number of Māori in hospital continued to rise. Māori have overtaken Pacific people at 28 people per 1000 infected.