There are 15,161 new community cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand today, with 610 people now in hospital, the Ministry of Health reports.
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In a statement, the Ministry said 10 of the people in hospital are in ICU.
While this is the third day in a row to see a drop in case numbers, the Ministry is still urging caution.
“The variation in reporting numbers each day means that the rolling average of cases gives a more reliable indicator of testing trends. The seven-day rolling average of cases is today 17,272, up from 16,687 yesterday.”
It said it was also possible that there may be delays in people self-reporting Rapid Antigen Test results, even if it is a negative result.
The Ministry also noted the increases in Covid-19 related hospitalisations, which was “significantly greater” than seen in the Delta outbreak.
“The hospitalisation figure of 544 on Thursday was six times the peak in hospitalisations seen in the Delta outbreak last year. The number of cases in hospital is currently expected to peak in the second half of this month. The Omicron variant means people who are hospitalised are more likely to have a shorter stay and less likely to be admitted to ICU or require oxygen or ventilation support.”
On Saturday, the number of new community cases of Covid-19 dropped below the 20,000 mark for the first time in several days, with 18,833 cases reported. There were also five deaths yesterday.
