There were 34 Covid-related deaths in New Zealand on Tuesday, a record for the outbreak so far.
Video / Dean Purcell / Michael Craig / Alex Burton / NZ Herald
Thirty-four Covid-19-related deaths were reported today, the highest daily total reported since the outbreak began, as an expert warned New Zealand's mortality rate underlined the virus' deadly nature.
The 34 deaths included people who had died during the past 10 days but had only recently been notified to the Ministry of Health.
The total number of people who have died with Covid-19 is now 303 and the seven-day moving average is 15.
Director of public health Dr Caroline McElnay said health officials expected the number of deaths to continue to fluctuate day to day but the seven-day rolling average to remain at similar levels for the coming weeks.
University of Otago epidemiologist professor Michael Baker said New Zealand's daily mortality rate and that of other countries was "a really unpleasant reminder that this is still a virus that is killing lots of people across the globe".
One of the people whose death was reported today was in their 30s, one person was in their 50s, five in their 60s, nine in their 70s, seven in their 80s and 11 were in their 90s.
Of these people, two were from Northland, 17 from the Auckland region, two from Waikato, one from the Bay of Plenty, one from the Lakes DHB, two from Hawke's Bay, five from the Wellington region, three from Canterbury and one from Southern.
"Our thoughts and condolences are with their whānau and friends at this sad time," the ministry said.
There were 17,148 community cases today - a jump from Monday's 12,882 which could be attributed to testing numbers tending to drop off over the weekend, Baker said.
"That reflects the people who are testing on Mondays when they maybe resume their normal week and those numbers are reported on the Tuesday. There's a distinct Sunday / Monday drop for the last five weeks and there is a very [noticeable] Tuesday jump for the last five weeks."
Otago University epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker. Photo / Supplied
Despite today's increase, the seven-day rolling average of cases is declining and sits at 15,565, compared with 17,020 last Tuesday.
Baker said Taranaki, Whanganui and the West Coast recorded their highest Covid-19 case numbers. The numbers in these DHBs were jumping around a lot, he said, which reflected the virus arriving in different populations within these regions at different times.
"The whole country is heading down past its peak, but you are seeing a slightly bumpier ride in Taranaki, Whanganui and West Coast.
"Smaller, more rural DHBs do seem to be having these slightly bumpier declines which partly reflects the smaller populations and probably people dispersed over a number of population centres."
More than 800 people are battling the virus in hospital, including 26 in intensive care.
Of the 842 people being treated in hospital, 26 are in Northland, 143 in North Shore: 173 in Middlemore, 151 in Auckland, 75 in Waikato, 28 in Bay of Plenty, nine in Lakes, one in Tairāwhiti, 41 in Hawke's Bay, 17 in Taranaki, eight in Whanganui, 19 in MidCentral, 16 in Hutt Valley, 30 in Capital and Coast, one in Wairarapa, 11 in Nelson Marlborough, 64 in Canterbury, three in South Canterbury, three in West Coast and 23 in Southern DHB.
