A record 1160 new community cases were announced in New Zealand on Wednesday as daily numbers rose to four figures for the first time ever.
That was a jump of more than 400 from Tuesday's 744 cases in the community, owing largely to the highly transmissible Omicron variant doing the rounds here.
The new cases announced on Wednesday are in Northland (24), Auckland (861), Waikato (73), Bay of Plenty (33), Lakes (5), Hawke’s Bay (15), MidCentral (3), Whanganui (4), Taranaki (9), Tairāwhiti (9), Wairarapa (5), Capital and Coast (32), Hutt Valley (20), Nelson Marlborough (15), Canterbury (8), South Canterbury (3), Southern (39). Two cases are unknown.
Another 43 cases were detected at the border.
There was also an increase hospitalisations, with 56 cases now receiving hospital care - six at North Shore, 17 at Middlemore, 24 at Auckland, three at Tauranga, three at Waikato, and one each at Wellington, Christchurch and Rotorua hospitals.
The average age of those in hospital is 65.
While the increase in cases and hospitalisations isn't great news, it's not all bad either. The Ministry of Health's 'Big Boost Week' continues to see tens of thousands of people getting their booster.
On Tuesday, 46,156 boosters were administered across the motu, bringing the total so far to more than 2 million third doses.
"The Ministry of Health would like to thank everyone in New Zealand who has been vaccinated. You are doing your bit to keep all New Zealanders safe," they said in a statement.
"The COVID-19 vaccine remains our best defence against the virus. People who are vaccinated are less likely to get seriously unwell or be hospitalised than people who haven't been vaccinated."
