There have been 63 new community cases of Covid-19 reported in New Zealand today, according to the Ministry of Health.

Covid-19 coronavirus particles, illustration. The new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (previously 2019-CoV) emerged in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. Photo: AFP

 

In a statement, the ministry said the new cases are in Northland (2), Auckland (53), Waikato (3), Bay of Plenty (1), Taranaki (1), and Canterbury (2).

It said while there had been a large drop in case numbers today, “we continue to ask everyone in New Zealand to remain vigilant”.

A border worker who has tested positive as part of routine surveillance testing has also been reported today.

“This case remains under investigation and is yet to be classified as either a community or border case. The case has not been included in today’s community case tally but has been added to the tally of total cases to date.”

A staff member at the Aria Park aged residential care facility in Auckland has tested positive and further testing is being undertaken with residents and staff.

Today’s two Northland cases are in Paihia and health officials are investigating recent travel to Auckland as the likely source of their infections.

A case previously under investigation in the Southern region has been re-classified as historical and was also reported in today’s numbers.

The Waikato and Canterbury cases reported today are all linked to other cases.

There are 60 people in hospital with the coronavirus, including three in intensive care.

There were also two cases reported in managed isolation today. One of those cases today tested positive at Day 14 after being identified as a close contact of a previously reported border case in their bubble.

There were 95 new community cases and two further deaths of people with the coronavirus reported yesterday.

The ministry said there have now been 9613 cases in the current community outbreak and 12,411 since the pandemic began.

There were 21,013 vaccine given yesterday, including 2859 first doses and 9250 second doses. The Ministry said 94 percent of eligible people in New Zealand have had their first dose and 89 percent are fully vaccinated.