Covid 19 Omicron outbreak: 23 deaths, 9830 cases as virus wave continues in the South

There are 9830 new community cases of Covid-19 and a further 23 people have died with the virus.

There are 473 people in hospital, including 17 in intensive care.

The 23 reported Covid deaths are people who have died over the previous six days apart from one death on April 3.

"The increase in deaths reported today follows a similar pattern often seen after weekends or public holidays," the Ministry of Health said.

Of the people whose deaths were reported today, two were from the Auckland region, four from Bay of Plenty, three from Waikato, two from Taranaki, two from MidCentral, two from Hawke's Bay, one from Hutt Valley, one from Capital and Coast, five from Canterbury and one person was from South Canterbury.

One was in their 40s, two in their 60s, seven in their 70s, seven in their 80s, and six were over 90.

These deaths take the total number of publicly reported deaths with Covid-19 to 710.
The seven-day rolling average of reported deaths is 14.

The ministry said delays in reporting deaths could be linked to people dying with - rather than from - Covid-19 and the virus being discovered only after they have died.

The community cases reported today are in Northland (295), Auckland (2442), Waikato (647), Bay of Plenty (335), Lakes (203), Hawke's Bay (337), MidCentral (349), Whanganui (126), Taranaki (264), Tairāwhiti (110), Wairarapa (118), Capital and Coast (628), Hutt Valley (290), Nelson Marlborough (350), Canterbury (1718), South Canterbury (222), Southern (1281) and the West Coast (109).

The locations of six cases is unknown.

There are 55,169 active community cases in New Zealand.

The vaccination status of the cases in the Northern Region is:

• Unvaccinated or not eligible: 46 cases / 17.62 per cent
• Partially immunised <7 days from second dose or have only received one dose: Six cases / 2.30 per cent
• Double vaccinated at least seven days before being reported as a case: 76 cases / 29.12 per cent
• Received booster at least seven days before being reported as a case: 126 cases / 48.28 per cent
• Unknown: Seven cases / 2.68 per cent

To date, 71.1 per cent of eligible New Zealanders, aged 12 and older, have had a booster.

The booster rates for Māori and Pacific peoples are 54.9 per cent and 57 per cent, respectively.

Meanwhile, 74 cases have been detected at the border.

The cases in hospital today are in Northland (39), Waitematā (71), Counties Manukau (65), Auckland (96), Waikato (28), Bay of Plenty (18), Lakes (three), Tairāwhiti (one), Hawke's Bay (11), Taranaki (seven), Whanganui (three), MidCentral (seven), Wairarapa (three), Hutt Valley (14), Capital and Coast (13), Nelson Marlborough (eight), Canterbury (54), South Canterbury (two) and Southern (30).

The average age of the current hospital admissions in the Northern Region is 60.

The South Island continues to bear the brunt of the Omicron outbreak as cases continue to rise while they fall elsewhere around the country.

There were 1099 new cases in Canterbury on Tuesday, up from 1013 on Monday and 978 on Sunday.

The three places with the highest 7-day average of cases per 100,000 people are South Canterbury (2179), West Coast (2038) and (1671) Canterbury.

That compares to the rest of the country with 1049 cases per 100,000 people.

Canterbury District Health Board chief executive Peter Bramley said cases have mostly stabilised in the region but they anticipate ongoing "peaks and troughs".

"We could see another spike in case numbers this week after a second consecutive long weekend.

"We're all adjusting to living with Covid-19 and will surely see the effects of more long weekends, school returning and school holidays, an increase in overseas visitors, as well as major events and festivals in the coming months."

It is a similar story elsewhere around the South Island with cases remaining steady or rising in the Southern, South Canterbury and Nelson Marlborough DHBs as well.

Overall trend shows reduction in cases

The four deaths yesterday take the total number of publicly reported deaths with Covid-19 to 687 and the seven-day rolling average of reported deaths is 12.

Although this was an increase from last week, the number of reported community cases was expected to continue to fluctuate day to day and the overall trend remains a reduction in reported cases, the ministry said.

The locations of yesterday's community cases are: Northland (212), Auckland (1667), Waikato (395), Bay of Plenty (188), Lakes (113), Hawke's Bay (168), MidCentral (222), Whanganui (71), Taranaki (184), Tairāwhiti (53), Wairarapa (77), Capital and Coast (387), Hutt Valley (203), Nelson Marlborough (233), Canterbury (1099), South Canterbury (172), Southern (864) and the West Coast (71).

62 cases were detected at the border, bringing New Zealand's total active cases to 56,571.

As of Tuesday, 71.1 per cent of eligible New Zealanders have been boosted.

The first and second dose rates for those aged over 12 are 96.4 per cent and 95.2 per cent, respectively.