One person has also died with the disease in the region and 19 died nationally.
There are 11,548 new community cases reported today - but Covid modeller Michael Plank says the true number will be higher.
Seventeen people are in intensive care or a high-dependency unit.
The seven-day rolling average of community case numbers today is 9550, compared with 7246 this time last week.
There are 19 new deaths recorded which all occurred in the last two days, taking the total number of deaths with Covid to 1707.
Of the people whose deaths we are reporting today: one was from the Auckland region, three were from Bay of Plenty, one was from Taranaki, two were from Whanganui, one was from Hawkes Bay, four were from MidCentral, one was from Lakes, three were from the Wellington region, two were from Canterbury, and one was from Southern.
One was in their 40s, two were in their 60s, three were in their 70s, five were in their 80s and eight were aged over 90. Of these people, ten were women and nine were men.
The seven-day rolling average of reported deaths is 17.
Hospitalisations
Covid-19 cases in hospital: total number 710: Northland: 16; Waitematā: 141; Counties Manukau: 59; Auckland: 85; Waikato: 58; Bay of Plenty: 36; Lakes: 9; Hawke’s Bay: 25; MidCentral: 26; Whanganui: 13; Taranaki: 13; Tairawhiti: 4; Wairarapa: 11; Capital & Coast: 37; Hutt Valley: 27; Nelson Marlborough: 16; Canterbury: 78; West Coast: 2; South Canterbury: 17; Southern: 37.
The Ministry of Health says it's closely monitoring the "continued increase in Covid-19 positive hospitalisations as part of our ongoing review and updating of the response to the current community outbreak".
Cabinet ministers met yesterday to discuss the Covid-19 situation but have not yet revealed any actions or decisions made as a result.
The average age of current hospitalisations is 64.
Health officials have reiterated the importance of continuing to wear a mask in indoor settings.
"The more layers of protection we put in place - such as mask wearing, vaccinations, and staying home when sick - the more we reduce the risk of spreading respiratory viruses," the ministry said.
Covid-19 modeller Dr Michael Plank told the Herald that New Zealand was "definitely in a second wave".
"It's got potential to be quite a serious one. Hospitalisations are rising sharply now and that's concerning because the health system was already stressed with winter illness and flu."
Plank said the actual number of infections would be higher than the ministry's tally as not everyone reported their positive result.
The real number to watch was hospitalisations, and the age at which they're occurring (today's average age is 64).
"It's difficult to predict what the peak will be. The increase in the average age is the biggest concern – that means even if cases don't get as high as they did in March, it's possible the number of hospitalisations will increase."
Plank said mask use would remain critical for flattening the curve of the outbreak, and even though New Zealand was relatively good at wearing masks, there was still room for improvement.
"We are probably still better at using masks here than many places who I think have fallen out of the habit.
"That's not to say there isn't room for improvement because there is and mask will be crucially important for flattening the wave."
Additional reporting ODT Online
