The Ministry of Health reported 5939 new community cases in New Zealand - including 69 in South Canterbury - on Tuesday.
Another 13 deaths were also reported by the ministry today. There has now been a total of 1688 deaths attributable to Covid-19 since the pandemic started. Over the past seven days, there has been an average of 16 deaths a day.
Of the 13 reported today, five were from Auckland region, two were from Waikato, one was from Bay of Plenty, two were from Hawke's Bay, one was from Taranaki, one was from Canterbury, one was from Southern. One person was under 10, one was in their 60s, three were in their 70s, two were in their 80s and six were aged over 90. Six were women and seven were men.
There are 634 people in hospitals across New Zealand with the virus, including 15 cases in ICU, 97 in Canterbury DHB hospitals and 25 in South Canterbury hospitals.
The other cases in hospital are in Northland: 34; Waitematā: 65; Counties Manukau: 49; Auckland: 80; Waikato: 54; Bay of Plenty: 26; Lakes: 15; Hawke’s Bay: 37; MidCentral: 20; Whanganui: 15; Taranaki: 22; Tairāwhiti: 2; Wairarapa: 7; Capital, Coast: 18; Hutt: 17; Nelson Marlborough: 15; West Coast: 5; and Southern: 31.
The seven-day rolling average of Covid hospitalisations is 645. This time last week it was 787.
The number of active cases in New Zealand is now 35,823, which includes 4866 in Canterbury and 654 in South Canterbury.
Meanwhile, New Zealand will stay in the orange alert level setting through winter, Covid-19 Response Minister Ayesha Verrall says.
"There's still significant pressure on hospitals from winter illnesses, so our current measures have an ongoing role to play in reducing the number of Covid-19 cases and hospitalisations," said Verrall.
"The health system usually sees elevated pressure through September, so we would be hoping to see some sustained reductions in both cases and hospitalisations then.
"Our response to Omicron is moving in the right direction, but loosening settings before we are completely on top of it risk infections going up again. We just need to stay the course a little longer."
Verrall said cases may have peaked at around 11,000 cases per day mid-July.
"However, due to the current high levels of Covid-19 infection in the community, the corresponding burden on primary and hospital care systems, and the highest levels of mortality seen in the outbreak so far the Covid-19 Protection Framework setting has been kept the same."
There will be no changes to case isolation and household contact quarantine requirements and the next review setting will be in September.
Under Orange people are required to wear a mask in most indoor settings. People can visit cafes and bars, attend gatherings and events, and go to gyms and hairdressers - with no capacity limits or distancing requirements.
-With NZ Herald
