There are 1305 new community cases of Covid-19 in Canterbury today and another person with the virus has died in the region.
Nationally the Ministry of Health reported 9843 new cases - including 177 in South Canterbury - and a further eight Covid-related deaths on Tuesday.
There are 421 people in hospital with the virus, including 10 in intensive care. There are 58 cases in Canterbury DHB hospitals and six in South Canterbury hospitals.
The total number of publicly reported deaths of people with Covid-19 is now 986.
Of the deaths reported today, three were from the Southern region; two were from Auckland, two were from Northland, and one was from Canterbury. One person was aged in their 60s, four people were in their 70s, and three were aged over 90. Four were women and four were men, the ministry said in today's update.
The seven-day rolling average of community case numbers was 7795 today. Last Tuesday, the average was 7927.
The number of active community cases in New Zealand now stands at 54,550.
Today's new community cases are in Northland (288), Auckland (3,442), Waikato (792), Bay of Plenty (342), Lakes (185), Hawke's Bay (361), MidCentral (339), Whanganui (105), Taranaki (291), Tairāwhiti (90), Wairarapa (87), Capital and Coast (600), Hutt Valley (249), Nelson Marlborough (320), Canterbury (1,305), South Canterbury (177), Southern (781), West Coast (83). The location of six new cases is unknown.
Sixty-three imported cases - people who have arrived from overseas and are most likely isolating in the community - were also reported by the ministry today.
The 421 hospital patients are in Northland: 9; Waitemata: 51; Counties Manukau: 43; Auckland: 98; Waikato: 28; Bay of Plenty: 10; Lakes: 5; Tairāwhiti: 0; Hawke's Bay: 17; Taranaki: 11; Whanganui: 3; MidCentral: 21; Wairarapa: 0; Hutt Valley: 7; Capital and Coast: 21; Nelson Marlborough: 8; Canterbury: 58; South Canterbury: 6; West Coast: 2; and Southern: 23.
The average age of people in hospital is 60.
Today's update comes as an expert warns that Long Covid cases could persist for decades.
Yesterday there were 7061 new cases in the New Zealand community and five Covid-related deaths.
-With NZ Herald
