Another 6223 new cases of Covid-19 have been reported in New Zealand today, along with 22 further deaths.
The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 9803, up from 9000 last week.
In today’s statement, the Ministry of Health said there were 733 people in hospital with the coronavirus, down from 761 yesterday, including 16 in ICU. The average age of the people in hospital is 64.
It said all of the 22 deaths occurred in the past four days.
They included two people aged in their 40s, as well as one in their 50s, one in their 60s, five in their 70s, eight in their 80s and five aged over 90. Ten were women and 12 were men.
Two were from Waikato, one was from Lakes, two were from Hawke’s Bay, one from Taranaki; three from Whanganui, two were from MidCentral, one was from Wellington region, three were from Canterbury/West Coast, two were from Southern.
The total number of people who have died with Covid-19 in New Zealand is now 1827.
The Ministry said 270 of today’s new cases had recently travelled overseas.
There were 29 further deaths and 9241 community cases reported in New Zealand yesterday.
New Zealand has now recorded a total of 1,490,606 confirmed cases of Covid-19.
From tomorrow, the access criteria for three antiviral treatments for Covid-19 will be widened to include a wider group of people at risk of severe illness, including all people aged 75 years and over and those who have been admitted to intensive care due to Covid-19.