There are 80 new Covid-19 cases in the community on Tuesday, the Ministry of Health has announced.

The cases are in Auckland (51), Waikato (21), Bay of Plenty (7) and Lakes (1).

There is also another case in Christchurch, but it will be included in Wednesday’s numbers.

They are a close contact of an earlier case and were already isolating at home when they tested positive.

Sixty-two people are in hospital with the virus, including four in intensive care or a high dependency unit.

The ministry also said “several” members of a flight crew which arrived in New Zealand on Monday night had been identified as close contacts of an Omicron case in Australia.

They are in an MIQ facility as per standard international air crew arrival procedure.

Meanwhile, a” large proportion” of the Waikato’s 21 new cases are in Te Kūiti.

“Exposure events in Te Kūiti and across the region continue to be generally in private settings. We are grateful to all those who have been helping to keep our community safe by getting tested and encourage anyone with symptoms to contact Healthline or their GP and seek a test,” the ministry said.

The Bay of Plenty’s seven new cases are all in the Tauranga City area and only one of them has been linked to an earlier case.

The fresh case in the Lakes DHB area is in the Taupō district and is linked to a previously reported case.

Two cases were also detected in MIQ on Tuesday, the ministry said.

Hutt Valley DHB is also the latest DHB to reach 90 per cent fully vaccinated.

To date, 94 per cent of eligible people have received one dose, while 89 per cent are fully vaccinated.

On Monday, 101 community cases were announced.

Post Views: 688