There have been 18 more deaths of people with Covid-19 and 8436 new cases identified in the community, the Ministry of Health has reported.
Photo: 123rf.com
There are 389 hospitalisations reported today, with nine in ICU. The seven-day rolling average of community case numbers today is 6885 - last Monday it was 7507.
Of whose who died three were from Northland, two were from the Auckland region, one was from Waikato, one was from Taranaki, two were from Midcentral, two from Nelson Marlborough, three from Canterbury, two from West Coast and two from the Southern region.
One person was in their 50s, two were in their 60s, one was in their 70s, eight were in their 80s and six were over 90. Ten were male and eight were female.
The deaths take the total number of publicly-reported fatalities to 1172. The seven-day rolling average of reported deaths now stands at 14.
Of those in hospital 10 are in Northland, 41 in Waitemata, 29 in Counties Manukau, 62 in Auckland, 27 in Waikato, six in Bay of Plenty, five in Lakes, six in Tairāwhiti, 14 in Hawke;s Bay, 12 in Taranaki, three in Whanganui, 12 in MidCentral, one in Wairarapa, three in Hutt Valley, 40 in Capital and Coast, 13 in Nelson Marlborough, 60 in Canterbury, 13 in South Canterbury, one in West Coast and 31 in Southern DHB.
The average age of current hospitalisations is now 61.
Yesterday there were five deaths reported of people with the virus, and 5836 new community cases.
Earlier developments
A third member of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's delegation to the US has tested positive for Covid-19 following an announcement in the weekend that California governor Gavin Newsom tested positive after appearing at an outdoor even with Ardern earlier in the day, in San Francisco.
Research is underway to find out the amount of New Zealanders becoming re-infected with Covid-19 after having been a confirmed case earlier. While reinfections are thought to be low, GPs are reporting them in increasing numbers.
Global developments
Shanghai authorities will lift the city's two-month long lockdown from midnight on Wednesday, allowing private cars back on the roads and allowing people to freely move in and out of low-risk housing.
North Korea said 96,020 more people had reported Covid-19 symptoms, continuing a recent trend of under 100,000 daily cases, compared to the peak of about 400,000 a day two weeks ago. No deaths were reported.
A new panel has been formed at the World Health Organisation to speed up its response to health emergencies like pandemics, after it was criticised for slowness in its response to the early stages of Covid-19. The new Standing Committee on Health Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response will be able to meet at the drop of a hat if needed in an international health emergency, and will oversee other emergency programmes.
-RNZ / Reuters