There were 85 new cases reported on Sunday, which represents new infections over the past 48 hours.
It comes as New Year's Eve parties and summer festivals continue to be added as locations of interest. So far, the Britomart Block Party, a drum and bass festival in Mt Maunganui and the Hidden Valley Festival in Matakana have been added.
Two cases in Wellington are possibly linked to the Mt Maunganui festival.
What you need to know:
- There were 85 new community cases announced on Sunday and 68 at the border.
- Thirty-one people are in hospital, including two in ICU or HDU.
- More than half a million doses of the paediatric Pfizer vaccine have arrived in New Zealand for children aged 5 to 11 years old.
- Two cases in Wellington have been linked to a drum and bass festival in Mt Maunganui.
- Click here for locations of interest.
These updates have finished.
5:10pm - There are five new locations of interest, including two in Queenstown over the New Year's period. They are:
- Oaks Club Suites, Queenstown, 9:30pm on December 30 to 8:30am on January 2
- SkyCity Casino, Queenstown, January 1 from 5:50pm to 7:30pm
- Close contact: Waihi Beach Hotel Pub, 11:05pm on January 5 to 1am on January 6
- KFC Waihi, January 5 from 4:30pm to 5pm
- Close contact: Waihi Beach RSA, January 5 from 8pm to 11pm.
4:20pm - There are two new locations of interest. Although they have the same physical address, there are different instructions for particular areas of the venue.
- Eastside Tavern and TAB Hamilton East, December 31 from 10:35am to 1pm
- Close contact: Eastside Tavern and TAB Gaming Lounge Hamilton East, December 31 from 10:35am to 1pm.
4pm - Locations of interest relating to at least one Wellington COVID-positive case who attended a Mount Maunganui music festival have now appeared on the Ministry of Health's website.
The event at the Warepai Domain in Tauranga last Monday is classified as a close contact location and anyone who attended is being told to self-isolate and get a test immediately.
A supermarket, a bar, a clothing shop, a bottle store and a home design store in Mount Maunganui are on the list.
A second close contact location has been listed as the Village Sports Bar and Cafe at Ngongotaha in Rotorua on New Year's Day from 6:30pm-10:30pm.
3:40pm - The Ministry of Health says it has reassessed the risk posed by the drum and bass festival in Tauranga's Wharepai Domain on January 3.
It has been downgraded today to asking all those who attended the festival to monitor for symptoms and to get tested if any symptoms develop, no matter how mild.
"Any festival attendee, without any symptoms, no longer needs to get tested and isolate at home until they receive a negative result," they say.
The reassessment follows a review of the risk, particularly given the festival was held in accordance with the rules for outdoor events under the COVID Protection Framework including the use of vaccine passes for entry, the fact that no other cases have since been linked to the festival, and the initial test results of the 11 close contacts of the Wellington case are all negative.
"The Ministry appreciates and thanks anyone attending the festival who has already been tested," they add.
"Festival attendees who have received an orange COVID-19 tracer app notification or who've been given advice by public health should continue to follow the advice provided."
2:45pm - In Queensland, 18,000 new cases were reported on Sunday, including 4320 positive self-reported rapid antigen test results.
There were no new deaths.
A total of 380 people are in hospital, including 22 in ICU.
2:25pm - There are five DHBs that are yet to reach the 90 percent fully vaccinated goal. They are:
- Northland: 85 percent of eligible population fully vaccinated, 8463 people remaining to hit 90 percent
- Lakes: 88 percent fully vaccinated, 1552 people remaining
- Tairawhiti: 87 percent fully vaccinated, 1336 people remaining
- Whanganui: 88 percent fully vaccinated, 1417 people remaining
- West Coast: 88 percent fully vaccinated, 442 people remaining.
Northland is still yet to reach 90 percent first doses. It is currently at 89 percent, with 2024 people remaining to hit this goal.
2pm - The Ministry of Health says more than half a million paediatric doses of the Pfizer vaccine for 5 to 11-year-olds have arrived in New Zealand this weekend.
Immunisation for children this age begins on January 17.
"Children need two doses of the vaccine to be fully protected and it is recommended that these are given at least eight weeks apart, although the interval can be safely shortened to a minimum of 21 days if needed," the Ministry of Health says.
"The vaccine is free. A parent, caregiver or legal guardian will need to accompany the child to their immunisation appointment and provide consent for them to be vaccinated."
1:35pm - Regional updates from the Ministry of Health:
We are continuing to ask anyone in New Zealand with symptoms – no matter how mild – to get tested, even if you’re vaccinated. Please stay at home until you return a negative test result. We are also asking people to regularly check the locations of interest as these are regularly updated and to follow the advice provided.
Testing and vaccination centre locations nationwide can be found on the Healthpoint website.
Auckland
There are 57 new cases in the Auckland region over the past two days.
Waikato
There are seven cases to report over the past two days.
Three of the cases are in Te Kūiti and have all been linked to previous cases, two cases are in Te Awamutu, one has a Taupō residential address (and is linked to a previous case), and one case where the location is under investigation. Three cases are currently unlinked.
Pop-up testing sites are operating in Whangamatā and Waihi and testing is available at the Whangamatā Medical Centre and Whitianga general practices. For details of all dedicated testing sites operating over the holiday period, please visit Healthpoint, the DHB webpage or DHB Facebook page.
In the Waikato, Public Health, primary care and manaaki providers are supporting 34 cases to isolate at home.
Bay of Plenty
There are 16 cases to report in the Bay of Plenty over the past two days. Thirteen of these cases are in Tauranga, and three are in the Western Bay of Plenty District. All cases are linked to previously notified cases.
Lakes
There are two cases to report in Lakes, both in Rotorua, over the past two days. One is linked to a previously notified case and the other is being investigated.
Taranaki
There is one previously reported case for Taranaki which is being added to our tally today.
The case is a household contact of a previous case and linked to the Eltham cluster. They have been in isolation across the festive period. This is currently the only active case in Taranaki.
Details for both testing and vaccinations in Taranaki are provided here: TDHB - COVID-19 testing and TDHB - COVID-19 vaccine
Wellington
There are no other cases to report other than the two announced yesterday and which are being added to our case tally today.
The Ministry encourages anyone who has visited any of the locations of interest in the Wellington and Otaki areas who have symptoms – no matter how mild – to get tested, even if you’re vaccinated and to please stay at home until they return a negative test result.
1:25pm - Key data from the Ministry of Health:
The vaccine remains our key defence against all variants of COVID-19, including Omicron. We continue to ask everyone who is eligible to get vaccinated, including people who are now eligible for a booster dose.
In the past 24 hours, 21,821 booster doses (previous day: 44,466 doses), 746 first doses (previous day: 1,284 doses) and 2,333 second doses (previous day: 3921) were administered.
COVID-19 vaccine update
- Vaccines administered to date (percentage of eligible people): 3,980,481 first doses (95%); 3,873,275 second doses (92%); 31,795 third primary doses; 490,107 booster doses
- Vaccines administered yesterday: 746 first doses; 2,333 second doses; 194 third primary doses and 21,821 booster doses.
- Māori (percentage of eligible people): 502,069 first doses (88%); 466,598 second doses (82%)
- Pacific Peoples (percentage of eligible people): 270,269 first doses (94%); 260,070 second doses (91%)
Vaccination rates by DHB with active cases (percentage of eligible people)
- Northland DHB: First doses (89%); second doses (85%)
- Auckland Metro DHBs: First doses (98%); second doses (97%)
- Waikato DHB: First doses (94%); second doses (91%)
- Bay of Plenty DHB: First doses (94%); second doses (90%)
- Lakes DHB: First doses (92%); second doses (88%)
- Taranaki DHB: First doses (93%); second doses (90%)
- Tairāwhiti DHB: First doses (91%); second doses (87%)
- Hawke’s Bay DHB: First doses (95%); second doses (91%)
- Canterbury DHB: First doses (98%); second doses (96%)
- Capital and Coast DHB: First doses (98%); second doses (96%)
- Hutt Valley DHB: First doses (96%); second doses (93%)
Hospitalisations
Cases in hospital: 31; Northland 1; North Shore: 5; Auckland: 11; Middlemore: 12, Tauranga: 2.
Vaccination status of current hospitalisations (Northern Region wards only): Unvaccinated or not eligible (8 cases / 30%); partially immunised <7 days from second dose or have only received one dose (7 cases / 26%); fully vaccinated at least 7 days before being reported as a case (11 cases / 41%); 1 unknown (4%).
Average age of current hospitalisations: 58
Cases in ICU or HDU: 2 (both in Middlemore).
Cases
- Seven day rolling average of community cases: 30
- Number of new community cases: 85 over past two days
- Number of new cases identified at the border: 64 over past two days
- Location of new community cases over past two days: Auckland (57), Waikato (7), Taranaki (1), Bay of Plenty (16), Lakes (2), Wellington (2)
- Number of community cases (total): 11,142 (in current community outbreak)
- Cases epidemiologically linked (total): 8,387
- Number of active cases (total): 1,087 (cases identified in the past 21 days and not yet classified as recovered)
- Confirmed cases (total): 14,298
Contacts
- Number of active contacts being managed (total): 5,176
- Percentage who have received an outbound call from contact tracers (to confirm testing and isolation requirements): 82%
- Percentage who have returned at least one result: 81%
Tests
- Number of tests total (last 24 hours): 11,845
- Tests rolling average (last 7 days): 11,942
- Auckland tests total (last 24 hours): 6,201
Wastewater
There were no unexpected wastewater detections.
NZ COVID Tracer
- Poster scans in the 24 hours to midday yesterday: 2,431,664
- Manual diary entries in the 24 hours to midday: 37,650
My Vaccine Pass
- My vaccine pass downloads total: 4,702,725
- My vaccine pass downloads (last 24 hours): 10,628
1:20pm - There are 85 new COVID-19 cases over the past 48 hours.
The locations of new community cases are: Auckland (57), Waikato (7), Taranaki (1), Bay of Plenty (16), Lakes (2), Wellington (2)
12:45pm - The latest COVID-19 update is due via a press release at 1pm. The latest case numbers will represent the past 48 hours of new infections since there wasn't an update on Saturday.
12:15pm - There are several new locations of interest. They are:
- Bendon Westgate, December 30 from 9:30am to 4:30pm
- High risk: Village Sports Bar & Cafe Rotorua, January 1 from 6:30pm to 10:30pm
- The Bottle-O Hillsdene, January 2 from 4:32pm to 5:45pm
- Bendon Westgate, January 4 from 8:30am to 6pm
- Burger Foundry Papamoa Plaza, January 4 from 10:52am to 1pm
- Bendon Westgate, January 5 from 9am to 5:30pm
- North Beach Mount Maunganui, January 5 from 3:41pm to 3:45pm
- McDonald's Bulls, January 6 from 2:33pm to 3pm.
12pm - Over in Australia, the state of Victoria has recorded 44,155 new COVID-19 cases and four deaths.
There are 752 people in hospital, 104 of which are in ICU and 23 are on ventilators.
And in New South Wales, 30,062 new cases and 16 deaths were reported on Sunday.
There are 1927 people in hospital, including 151 in ICU.
11:45am - Kia ora and welcome to Newshub's live COVID updates for Sunday, January 9.
There are several new locations of interest that have been released so far today, including more information for the drum and bass festival in Mt Maunganui. They are:
- Countdown Tauranga, January 2 from 4pm to 5:30pm
- Netsky, Hybrid Minds, Montell2099, Friction, Koven, and more, 2pm January 3 to 12am January 4
- Paper Plane Mount Maunganui, January 5 from 2:25pm to 4:30pm
- Evolution Clothing Mount Maunganui, January 5 from 3:07pm to 4:15pm
- Lululemon Mount Maunganui, January 5 from 3:15pm to 4:20pm
- Astrolabe Brew Bar Mount Maunganui, January 5 from 4:03pm to 4:45pm
- Downtown Foodmarket Mount Maunganui, January 5 from 7:29pm to 7:45pm
- Bendon Westgate, January 6 from 9am to 1pm
- Robert Harris Cafe Taupo, January 6 from 10:59am to 12pm.
