The Ministry of Health has announced 208 new COVID-19 cases with 12 people in hospital and one in ICU on Sunday.
Today's cases are down from Saturday's record day of 243 infections.
Of the new community cases, 128 are in Auckland, 49 in Waikato, 11 in Bay of Plenty, seven in Northland, five in Hawke's Bay, three in Wellington, three in Nelson Marlborough, one in Lakes and one in Canterbury.
The ministry announced there are 12 people in hospital with one in ICU or HDU in Rotorua Hospital.
Of the 12 people in hospital: two are in North Shore, three in Middlemore, two in Auckland City, two in Rotorua, two in Waikato and one in Christchurch.
There are 19 new COVID cases recorded at the border in Managed Isolation and Quarantine.
Earlier, the Ministry of Health announced a Papatoetoe swimming pool, two Auckland bars and churches as new 'high risk' locations of interest.
O'Hagan's Irish Bar in downtown Auckland and Hoppers Garden Bar in Grey Lynn were announced as the latest 'high risk' locations of interest.
The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints in Papatoetoe and Favona as well as the children's pool at the Papatoetoe Centennial Pool and Leisure Centre were also revealed as 'high risk' locations.
What you need to know:
- There were 208 new community cases in New Zealand of any variant on Sunday
- Of the 208 new community cases, 128 are in Auckland, 49 are in Waikato, 11 in Bay of Plenty, seven in Northland, five in Hawke's Bay, three in Wellington, three in Nelson Marlborough, one in Lakes and one in Canterbury.
- There are 12 people in hospital on Sunday: two in North Shore, three in Middlemore, two in Auckland City, two in Rotorua, two in Waikato and one in Christchurch.
- The interval between the second dose of the vaccine and the booster is being shortened to three months, rather than four months
- The Government has released a five-step plan for reopening New Zealand. This includes Kiwis from Australia bypassing MIQ from February 28.
These live updates have now closed.
2:17pm - Queensland have announced 5,746 new COVID-19 cases in the last reporting period.
Queensland Health said nine people have died in the last 24 hours with COVID-19.
There are 663 patients in Queensland hospitals, the lowest number since January 16, with 45 people in intensive care.
Queensland's chief health officer John Gerrard said most deaths were in the "unboosted older aged group".
Of the nine deaths in the most recent 24-hour reporting period, Dr Gerrard said two were unvaccinated, four had two doses and two had a single dose. There was no information available for the ninth death.
1:14pm - Here are today's regional updates from the Ministry of Health:
We are reporting new community cases in Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Lakes, Bay of Plenty, Hawke’s Bay, Wellington, Nelson Marlborough, and Canterbury.
In addition, we are announcing a case in Whanganui that was first reported as part of the Waikato numbers yesterday. Seven cases in Northland and one in Nelson Marlborough were reported after the Ministry’s cut off and will be added to our case numbers later.
Northland
There are 14 new cases in Northland today, seven of which are being reported in today’s numbers and seven more that were notified after Ministry’s cut-off and will be added to the numbers in due course.
Of these 14 cases, six of these cases are in Kerikeri, one in Hokianga North and two in Whangarei. These cases all have linked to previously reported cases.
The remining five cases are under investigation.
Auckland
There are 128 cases to report in Auckland today.
Health and welfare providers are now supporting 2,191 people in the region to isolate at home, including 861 cases.
Waikato
Today we’re reporting 49 new cases in Waikato.
Twenty-three of these are linked to previously confirmed cases and public health staff are continuing to investigate the remaining cases.
There are 20 reported for Hamilton, two in Ohaupo, one in Cambridge, one in Huntly, one in Matamata, one in Walton, and the remaining with locations under investigation.
Lakes
We are reporting one new case in the Rotorua district today. This case is linked to a previously reported case.
Bay of Plenty
There are 11 cases to report in Bay of Plenty today,
Of these cases, 10 are linked to previously reported cases and one is under investigation.
Three cases are in the Western Bay of Plenty and eight are in Tauranga. There is one case in Tauranga Hospital.
Hawke’s Bay
Today we are reporting five new cases in Hawke’s Bay.
One has been linked to a previously reported case and the other four remain under investigation.
Whanganui
We are announcing one new case in the Whanganui district today.
The case is a household contact the Whanganui case reported yesterday.
The case was isolating when they tested positive and, at this stage, local public health staff have assessed there are no exposure events associated with this case.
The case was first reported yesterday in Waikato’s figures, as they were recorded as having a Waikato address.
Wellington
We are reporting three cases in the Wellington region today.
In addition, there are three more cases residing in the Wellington region registered to Auckland addresses, who are included in Auckland’s reported numbers today.
Of this total of six cases, four are in Wellington city and two in Porirua.
Two cases are linked to previously reported cases and four remain under investigation. All cases are isolating at home.
Case investigations continue and any new location of interest linked to these cases will be published as they are identified on the Ministry of Health website.
Nelson-Marlborough
There are four cases to announce in Nelson-Marlborough today, one of which came in after the Ministry’s cut-off and will be officially added to the Ministry’s numbers in due course.
Three of these cases are based in the Nelson-Tasman region and one in Marlborough.
Two of these cases are household contacts of known cases and have been in quarantine during their infectious periods.
One case was linked to an Air NZ flight on 23 January.
The source of infection for the remaining fourth case, identified while staying at Tahuna Beach Holiday Park, is currently under investigation.
Tahuna Beach Holiday Park in Nelson has been added as a new location of interest today on the Ministry’s website. Mobile testing is now offer at the park until 3pm today.
Canterbury
Today we are reporting a case with a South Canterbury address.
The case is currently in a managed isolation and quarantine facility in Christchurch.
Public health staff are currently investigating the case to determine any links to previously reported cases.
The case’s Timaru based household contacts are all isolating and have so far tested negative.
Public health staff are not expecting any Timaru locations of interest arising from this case.
1:13pm - Here is the latest data from the Ministry of Health on the outbreak and vaccination campaign:
COVID-19 vaccine update
- Vaccines administered to date (percentage of eligible people): 4,047,421 first doses (96%); 3,972,866 second doses (94%); 1,561,837 booster doses (50%)
- Vaccines administered yesterday: 560 first doses; 1,101 second doses; 4,807 paediatric doses; 48,947 booster doses.
- Māori (percentage of eligible people aged 12+): 514,362 first doses (90%); 489,002 second doses (86%).
- Pacific Peoples (percentage of eligible people aged 12+): 278,157 first doses (97%); 270,648 second doses (94%).
- Paediatric vaccines administered to date (percentage of 5-11-year-olds): 197,471 first doses (41%)
- Māori (percentage of eligible people aged 5-11): 26,744 (first doses (23%)
- Pacific Peoples (percentage of eligible people aged 5-11): 15,520 first doses (31%)
Vaccination rates for all DHBs (percentage of eligible people aged 12 +)
- Northland DHB: First doses (89.9%); second doses (87%)
- Auckland Metro DHBs: First doses (97%); second doses (96%)
- Waikato DHB: First doses (95%); second doses (93%)
- Bay of Plenty DHB: First doses (95%); second doses (92%)
- Lakes DHB: First doses (93%); second doses (91%)
- MidCentral DHB: First doses (96%); second doses (94%)
- Tairāwhiti DHB: First doses (93%); second doses (89.6%)
- Whanganui DHB: First doses (92%); second doses (89.6%)
- Hawke’s Bay: First doses (97%); second doses (94%)
- Taranaki DHB: First doses (95%); second doses (92%)
- Wairarapa DHB: First doses (96%); second doses (94%)
- Capital and Coast DHB: First doses (98%); second doses (97%)
- Hutt Valley DHB: First doses (97%); second doses (95%)
- Nelson Marlborough DHB: First doses (96%); second doses (95%)
- West Coast DHB: First doses (93%); second doses (91%)
- Canterbury DHB: First doses (99%); second doses (98%)
- South Canterbury DHB: First doses (95%); second doses (94%)
- Southern DHB: First doses (98%); second doses (96%)
Hospitalisations
- Cases in hospital: 12; North Shore: 2; Middlemore: 3; Auckland: 2; Waikato: 2; Rotorua: 2; Christchurch: 1
- Average age of current hospitalisations: 59
- Cases in ICU or HDU: 1 (Rotorua)
- Vaccination status of current hospitalisations (Northern Region wards only): Unvaccinated or not eligible (1 case / 17%); partially immunised <7 days from second dose or have only received one dose (N/A cases / 0%); fully vaccinated at least 7 days before being reported as a case (5 cases / 83%).
Cases
- Seven day rolling average of community cases: 157
- Seven day rolling average of border cases: 40
- Number of new community cases: 208
- Number of new cases identified at the border: 19
- Location of new community cases: Northland (7), Auckland (128), Waikato (49), Lakes (1), Bay of Plenty (11), Hawke’s Bay (5), Wellington (3), Nelson Marlborough (3), South Canterbury (1)
- Number of community cases (total): 13,078 (in current community outbreaks)
- Cases epidemiologically linked (total): 9,565
- Number of active cases (total): 1,686 (cases identified in the past 21 days and not yet classified as recovered)
- Confirmed cases (total): 17,397
Contacts
- Number of active contacts being managed (total): 5,142
- Percentage who has received an outbound call from contact tracers (to confirm testing and isolation requirements): 77%
- Percentage who has returned at least one result: 70%
Tests
- Number of tests total (last 24 hours): 16,873
- Tests rolling average (last 7 days): 19,330
- Auckland tests total (last 24 hours): 7,847
Wastewater
- No unusual detections to report.
NZ COVID Tracer
- Poster scans in the 24 hours to midday yesterday: 2,423,179
- Manual diary entries in the 24 hours to midday: 37,499
My Vaccine Pass
- Total issued to date: 5,058,000
- Total yesterday: 14,284
1:11pm - The ministry said that there were 48,947 booster doses administered on Saturday, taking the total to date to 1,561,837.
Also, 4,807 paediatric doses were given on Saturday, bringing the total to 197,471.
The ministry said with Omicron in New Zealand, one of the best things you can do is get your booster as soon as it is due.
"Boosters lower your chances of getting very sick and being hospitalised. Being boosted also helps slow the spread of the virus. If you’re over 18 and your booster is due, please get it now."
Waitangi weekend reminder
The ministry are reminding Kiwis that if you are away this Waitangi weekend, you should have plans in place in the event you are identified as a close contact, get COVID-19 symptoms, or find out you have COVID-19.
"You are likely to need to self-isolate wherever you become a close contact or test positive, so there may be extra costs involved in paying for additional accommodation and changing your travel plans," the ministry said.
1:09pm - The Ministry of Health has announced 208 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday.
The 208 new cases is down from Saturday's record day for the pandemic of 243 infections.
Of the 208 new community cases, 128 are in Auckland, 49 are in Waikato, 11 in Bay of Plenty, seven in Northland, five in Hawke's Bay, three in Wellington, three in Nelson Marlborough, one in Lakes and one in Canterbury.
The ministry announced that there are 12 people in hospital with one in ICU or HDU in Rotorua Hospital.
Of the 12 people in hospital: two are in North Shore, three in Middlemore, two in Auckland City, two in Rotorua, two in Waikato and one in Christchurch.
There are 19 new COVID cases recorded at the border in Managed Isolation and Quarantine.
12:57pm - A Pulitzer Prize winner is warning a 'mass disability event' is already underway as millions could end up with long COVID symptoms.
Ed Yong, a science writer for The Atlantic, has been recording people who suffer symptoms post-COVID since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
Yong's collection of work on long COVID in 2020 won him the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting.
"Even if you take the most conservative estimates for the proportion of people with COVID who develop long-term symptoms, that still translates to tens of millions of people worldwide," Yong told News.com.au.
Read the full story here.
12:35pm - As usual, the Ministry of Health will release its daily statement with the latest updates on the COVID-19 outbreak at around 1pm.
Stay tuned as we will publish the newest developments live as soon as the statement is available.
12:20pm - In Victoria, they have announced 7,169 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday down from 7,810 on Saturday.
Victoria Health said that six people had died from COVID-19 in the last reporting period.
There are currently 652 being treated in hospital - down from 687 on Saturday.
Of those in hospital, 73 are in intensive care, with 28 on ventilators.
There are currently more than 60,917 active cases of the virus in Victoria.
12:12pm - In Australia, New South Wales COVID-19 case numbers have continued to drop, after recording below 10,000 for the first time since December on Saturday.
NSW Health announced on Sunday there were 7,893 new cases of the virus down from 8389 on Saturday.
It was also announced that 28 people died in the last 24 hours with COVID-19.
There are currently 2,321 COVID patients being treated in hospital, with 147 in intensive care.
That figure is down from Saturday when 2337 people were in hospital.
12:02pm - The Ministry of Health has announced seven new locations of interest including five 'high risk' locations.
The high risk locations are:
- O'Hagan's Irish Bar Auckland - From Sunday, 30 January 8pm to Monday, 31 January 1am
- Hoppers Garden Bar Grey Lynn - From Sunday, 30 January 8pm to Monday, 31 January 12am
- Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints Papatoetoe - Sunday, 30 January from 11:30am to 2:30pm
- Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints Favona - Wednesday, 2 February from 7pm to 8:30pm
- Papatoetoe Centennial Pool and Leisure Centre Papatoetoe *CHILDRENS POOLS* - Thursday, 27 January from 11:30am to 12:45pm
The ministry asks anyone at these locations during the exposure time to "Self-isolate, test immediately and on day 5 after you were exposed at this location of interest. Further isolation and testing requirements will be provided by Public Health".
For the relevant dates, times and public health advice - and updates to existing locations of interest - click here.
11:50am - Kia ora, good morning and welcome to Newshub's live updates for Sunday. We are waiting for the 1pm update from the Ministry of Health to see if New Zealand will again break its daily case record of 243, set on Saturday.
