98 new Covid cases across NZ

Ninety-eight new Covid-19 cases in the Delta community outbreak were recorded yesterday.

There are new cases in Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Taranaki, and Nelson-Marlborough.

There is also a border case currently under investigation in the Southern DHB area. This person returned an initial weak positive test and a second test has returned a negative result.

Public health staff are currently awaiting serology results for the person. Out of an abundance of caution, one location of interest has been published.

There are 66 people in hospital with Covid-19 yesterday, including one being assessed. Seven are in intensive care or high dependency care units. This is down from 76 onMonday.

Two are in hospital in Waikato, one in Tauranga, and one in Nelson; the remainder are in hospital in Auckland. The average age of those in hospital is 53. Thirty-five people in hospital (57 per cent) are unvaccinated, or ineligible because of their age.