Covid 19 Omicron outbreak: 708 new Canterbury cases, four more deaths; NZ border reopens to all

International borders are open for the first time since Covid hit NZ. Photo / George Heard

There are 708 new cases of Covid-19 in Canterbury today and four more people with the virus have died in the region.

Nationally, the Ministry of Health reported 5312 new Covid community cases on Monday and a further 28 Covid-related deaths.

Four of the 28 deaths were people from Canterbury, one was from South Canterbury, four were from the Auckland region, three were from Waikato, two were from Bay of Plenty, two were from Lakes, one was from Tairāwhiti, three were from Hawke's Bay, three were from Taranaki, two were from Wellington region, two were from Nelson Marlborough, and one was from the Southern region.

Two of the deaths reported today were aged in their 50s, three were in their 60s, four were in their 70s, nine were in their 80s and 10 were aged over 90. Twelve were women and 16 were men.

A total of 1502 deaths have now been confirmed as attributable to Covid-19, either as the underlying cause of death or as a contributing factor, the ministry said.

Meanwhile, there are 759 people in hospital, including 16 in intensive care, 124 in Canterbury DHB hospitals and 17 in South Canterbury hospitals.

The other cases in hospital are in Northland: 13; Waitematā: 86; Counties Manukau: 79; Auckland: 79; Waikato: 102; Bay of Plenty: 29; Lakes: 15; Hawke's Bay: 34; MidCentral: 49; Whanganui: 11; Taranaki: 22; Tairawhiti: 3; Wairarapa: 5; Capital & Coast: 25; Hutt: 7; Nelson Marlborough: 19; West Coast: 1; and Southern: 39.

Today's seven-day rolling average of community cases is 6990 - this time last week it was 8498. The total number of active cases in New Zealand is now 48,911.

starnews.co.nz