Hawke's Bay has 168 new cases of Covid and one in hospital, a new record for the region.
Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield announced 19,566 new cases nationaly on Tuesday, with 373 in hospital, nine of whom are in ICU, and just under 100,000 active cases.
"Covid-19 is a very different foe what it was in the beginning of the pandemic," Bloomfield said, citing the high vaccination rate.
"For most people, Covid-19 will be a mild to moderate illness that can be managed quite safely at home."
He conceded that PCR testing capacity was not keeping up with demand last week.
