There are 7829 new community cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand today and 15 virus-related deaths.
There are 395 people in hospital with the virus, including eight in intensive care, the Ministry of Health says.
One of the deaths reported today was in Canterbury. Three were from the Auckland region, one was from Waikato, one was from Lakes, two were from Bay of Plenty, two were from Taranaki, one was from the Wellington region, one was from Nelson Marlborough, one was from West Coast and two were from Southern.
One of the people whose deaths were reported today was in their 20s. One was in their 50s, five were in their 70s, three were in their 80s and five were over 90.
The seven-day rolling average of community case numbers today is 5808 – last Wednesday it was 4873.
There are 1322 new cases in Canterbury, and 42 people in hospitals with the virus.
Today's numbers come after a surge of cases yesterday and the dropping of vaccine mandates for border and corrections staff.
Yesterday there were 8028 new daily cases and 16 deaths of people with the virus, including a young person.
Location of new community cases: Northland (141), Auckland (2,519), Waikato (476), Bay of Plenty (329), Lakes (100), Hawke’s Bay (251), MidCentral (223), Whanganui (92), Taranaki (204), Tairāwhiti (62), Wairarapa (74), Capital and Coast (715), Hutt Valley (320), Nelson Marlborough (260), Canterbury (1,219), South Canterbury (103), Southern (679), West Coast (59), Unknown (3).
Number of new imported cases: 100.
Cases in hospital: Northland: 4; Waitematā: 70; Counties Manukau: 42; Auckland: 57; Waikato: 30; Bay of Plenty: 7; Lakes: 21; Tairāwhiti: 1; Hawke’s Bay: 12; Taranaki: 10; Whanganui: 1; MidCentral: 15; Wairarapa: 7; Hutt Valley: 13; Capital and Coast: 24; Nelson Marlborough: 12; Canterbury: 39; South Canterbury: 3; West Coast: 0; Southern: 27.
Mandates to lapse
As Covid-19 cases increase, the Government yesterday announced that from July 2, the vaccine mandates for borders and corrections staff will lapse and from tomorrow, border workers will no longer be required to get tested for the virus.
The Ministry of Health says with border workers now no more at risk of Covid-19 than the general population, it makes sense to adjust the requirements for them.
"Border workers have played a critical role in the country's public health response and have provided valuable data to help understand the evolving outbreak. The ministry would like to thank them for their continued support and commitment to the health and wellbeing of New Zealanders."
Covid-19 Response Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall said vaccine mandates had been under continuous review and the plan was always to remove them when it was "safe to do so".
"Vaccination has been one of our strongest and most effective defences to protect against Covid-19. It's helped protect our border and corrections workers and their whānau. But we feel the requirement has served its purpose well."
- NZ Herald/ODT Online