The Ministry of Health has announced a record 19,566 new COVID infections and 373 people hospitalised with the disease on Tuesday.
There are reports of large queues for rapid antigen tests, with experts anticipating a tough few weeks for New Zealand's health system due to high COVID infection rates.
"New Zealand, like every other country in the world, has not escaped Omicron to date but where we can be an exception is how well we minimise the spread and the impact of the virus, and protect people as much as possible from it," Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield told reporters on Tuesday.
"There's no doubt the next few weeks are going to be tough - the health system can't do it alone so thanks in advance to all New Zealanders continuing to support our efforts to live with the virus on our terms."
Meanwhile, anti-mandate protesters at Parliament have had another stand-off with police overnight after their showers were removed.
Protesters' cars were damaged in the process and in retaliation, demonstrators slashed the tyres of cop cars parked nearby, police said.
What you need to know:
- COVID cases in hospital on Tuesday - total number 373: Northland: 4; North Shore: 63; Middlemore: 134; Auckland: 115; Waikato: 23; BOP: 10; Rotorua: 3; Tairawhiti: 2; Hawke’s Bay: 1; Taranaki: 1; MidCentral: 3; Hutt Valley: 5; Capital and Coast: 3; Nelson Marlborough: 1; Canterbury: 4; Southern: 1;
- There were 19,566 new COVID-19 infections recorded on Tuesday.
- Location of Tuesday's new community cases: Northland (329), Auckland (12,530), Waikato (1,812), Bay of Plenty (1,185), Lakes (376), Hawke’s Bay (168), MidCentral (260), Whanganui (45), Taranaki (165), Tairāwhiti (88), Wairarapa (42), Capital and Coast (691), Hutt Valley (355), Nelson Marlborough (196), Canterbury (740), South Canterbury (37), Southern (529), West Coast (17); Unknown (1)
- The Government on Monday agreed to lift all self-isolation requirements for vaccinated travellers entering New Zealand from 11:59pm on Wednesday.
- New Zealand is in Omicron phase 3 where only positive cases and household contacts are considered close contacts.
- Anti-mandate protests outside Parliament have entered day 22.
- There are "at least" 17 confirmed positive COVID-19 cases among the Wellington protesters but there are "undoubtedly more" infections than that, Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield says.
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5:05pm - Here is a statement from the New Zealand Defence Force on COVID-19 cases within the Navy:
As at 28 February, 65 Navy personnel have tested positive for COVID-19 and are isolating in accommodation at the Narrow Neck facility.
In addition, there are 151 Navy personnel isolating. Of these, 127 are household contacts or close contacts of people who have been confirmed with COVID-19, and 24 are unwell and are awaiting the results of testing.
A small number of RNZN personnel, with no known exposure risk, have been moved out of their accommodation at the Narrow Neck facility to other accommodation, as a temporary measure to allow for an increase in capacity of isolation accommodation, if required.
All personnel are adhering to MOH guidelines around mask wearing, distancing, hand washing and limiting contact time.
It is not unexpected to have cases occur in our personnel as the community outbreak gathers pace, particularly in Auckland, given the high community transmission rates. NZDF has a workplace mitigation framework in place to limit the impact these cases could have on NZDF personnel, tasks and operations
3:25pm - The symptom pattern of COVID-19 has changed and some people are experiencing atypical symptoms, Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield says.
Common COVID symptoms are a cough, sore and scratchy throat, runny nose, and fever. Less common symptoms include diarrhoea, headache, muscle aches, nausea, vomiting, malaise, chest pain, abdominal pain, joint pain or confusion and irritability. These almost always occur with one or more of the common symptoms, the Ministry of Health says.
But despite these common symptoms, Dr Bloomfield says children, in particular, can show the virus differently.
3:18pm - More than 800 Counties Manukau District Health Board staff are not at work because they're sick or a member of their household has COVID-19 as case numbers in hospitals rise.
A Counties Manukau DHB spokesperson said 13.5 percent of staff were not at work on Monday because they're either sick or someone in their home has COVID-19.
3:02pm - An anti-mandate protester has launched an abusive tirade at a police officer outside Parliament in Wellington, accusing him of inciting violence for standing inside the boundary and telling him he would face war crimes charges.
The protester filmed himself speaking to an officer who was standing against concrete blocks at the intersection of Lambton Quay and Bowen and Whitmore Sts near Parliament.
Despite demonstrators' claims they are fighting for people's freedom, the protester took exception to where the officer was standing.
2:58pm - The age of the rapid antigen test has begun.
Last week, Aotearoa entered phase 3 of its Omicron response plan, marking a significant change in how we are dealing with the virus.
In a nutshell, it means we're moving away from a more centrally mandated response, towards a future where individual responsibility and judgement is given far more weight. It also means the way we test for the virus has shifted fundamentally: the PCR test you'll be used to - where a doctor or nurse thrusts a long swab up your nose and takes it away for processing in a special lab - is no longer standard.
Instead, you'll be given a rapid antigen test, or RAT, to take home and do yourself.
2:42pm - In world COVID news, the UK reported 82,451 new cases for Saturday, Sunday and Monday and 138 deaths within 28 days of a positive test, data shows.
2:30pm - Unvaccinated people were significantly more likely to be hospitalised with COVID-19 than vaccinated during New Zealand's Delta and Omicron outbreaks, figures show.
Leighton Watson, an Auckland-based a geophysicist and mathematician with the University of Canterbury, looked at data from both outbreaks and found unvaccinated COVID cases ended up in hospital much more than vaccinated cases.
For unvaccinated people, 1 in 15 cases were hospitalised during the Delta and Omicron outbreaks compared to 1 in 128 for the double-vaccinated and 1 in 213 for those with boosters.
Dr Watson said it demonstrates the vaccine is effective at keeping people out of hospital, saving lives and preventing the healthcare system from being overrun.
2:06pm - To recap what we learned from Dr Bloomfield and the PM's press conferences:
There were nearly 20,000 new cases of COVID-19 reported with the total number of active infections now 100,000.
Dr Bloomfield told reporters there are 373 people hospitalised with COVID - nine of whom are in ICU.
The Director-General of Health also apologised for COVID testing delays that have affected 32,000 people not getting their results back.
"It's now clear that we overestimated the number of tests the lab network could actually process once Omicron began to take off and take off it did quite rapidly," he told reporters.
"I do want to emphasise the delays are not the fault of our labs or the staff there - they have been working incredibly hard right through the pandemic and have done phenomenal work over these past few weeks."
1:54pm - PM Ardern is now taking questions from reporters.
1:50pm - We are live from the press conference at Parliament - Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi is up first. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to follow.
1:45pm - That's it from Dr Bloomfield. Stand by as we cross to the Prime Minister's press conference at the Beehive.
1:40pm - Dr Bloomfield can't say how many police officers working at the Wellington protest have tested positive for COVID.
1:36pm - There are "undoubtedly more" than the 17 reported COVID cases linked to the Wellington anti-mandate protests, Dr Bloomfield says.
1:32pm - Dr Bloomfield says New Zealand's first delivery of the Novavax COVID jab is expected in the next couple of weeks.
1:30pm - Masks remain incredibly important during the Omicron outbreak, Dr Bloomfield reiterates.
1:25pm - Dr Bloomfield says a person who has tested positive for COVID in the past three months does not need to isolate if they become a household contact.
1:23pm - On queues for rapid antigen tests, Dr Bloomfield says the health ministry in touch with district health boards to ensure there is plenty of supply.
1:14pm - Dr Bloomfield says the next few weeks will be tough.
He urges New Zealanders to support efforts to "live with the virus, on our terms".
1:13pm - Hospitals across New Zealand are at about 80 percent capaicty and ICUs about 57 percent full, Dr Bloomfield says.
1:10pm - Dr Bloomfield says hospitals are keeping up with the COVID demand.
He says people are being hospitalised for, on average, about half the time they were during the Delta outbreak.
1:08pm - Below is a full breakdown of Tuesday's COVID hospitalisation and case data from the Ministry of Health:
Hospitalisations
- Cases in hospital - total number 373: Northland: 4; North Shore: 63; Middlemore: 134; Auckland: 115; Waikato: 23; BOP: 10; Rotorua: 3; Tairawhiti: 2; Hawke’s Bay: 1; Taranaki: 1; MidCentral: 3; Hutt Valley: 5; Capital and Coast: 3; Nelson Marlborough: 1; Canterbury: 4; Southern: 1.
- Average age of current hospitalisations: 52
- Cases in ICU or HDU: 9
- Vaccination status of current hospitalisations (Northern Region only, excluding Emergency Departments): Unvaccinated or not eligible (37 cases/13.4 percent); partially immunised <7 days from second dose or have only received one dose (6 cases / 2.1 percent); fully vaccinated at least seven days before being reported as a case (110 cases / 39.8 percent); unknown (72 cases / 26.1 percent).
Cases
- Seven day rolling average of community cases: 10,689
- Number of new community cases: 19,566
- Number of new community cases (PCR): 2513
- Number of new community cases (RAT): 17053
- Location of new community cases: Northland (329), Auckland (12,530), Waikato (1,812), Bay of Plenty (1,185), Lakes (376), Hawke’s Bay (168), MidCentral (260), Whanganui (45), Taranaki (165), Tairāwhiti (88), Wairarapa (42), Capital and Coast (691), Hutt Valley (355), Nelson Marlborough (196), Canterbury (740), South Canterbury (37), Southern (529), West Coast (17); Unknown (1)
- Number of new cases identified at the border: 22
- Number of active community cases (total): 99,859 (cases identified in the past 21 days and not yet classified as recovered)
- Confirmed cases (total): 118,337.
1:06pm - Dr Bloomfield admits officials underestimated how many PCR COVID tests could be processed due to the fast growth of the Omicron outbreak, hence the fast transition to rapid antigen tests.
1:01pm - There are nearly 20,000 COVID cases in New Zealand on Tuesday with 373 people in hospital - nine of whom are in intensive care, Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield confirms.
12:57pm - A new free medical service has been launched for Auckland COVID-19 cases and their families who have to isolate. Below is a statement from the Northern Region Health Coordination Centre:
In an effort to help relieve pressure on emergency departments across Tāmaki Makaurau, the Northern Region Health Coordination Centre (NRHCC) has launched four Whānau HQ Care Hubs.
The hubs - two in south Auckland, one on the north shore and one in west Auckland - are for people who have tested positive for COVID-19 and their isolating whānau, who require urgent, non-COVID-19 related care.
They will be staffed by GPs and nurses with experience dealing in urgent care. The free service can be accessed by appointment only between 8am and 8pm, seven days a week.
Referrals are accepted from emergency department clinical staff, the Whānau HQ co-ordination hub (which is NRHCC's home isolation support centre), St John and Healthline.
12:46pm - After health chief Ashley Bloomfield's COVID update, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will front media at the Beehive - you can also watch that live in the video above.
12:31pm - In the Canterbury region, there are currently 3979 active COVID cases.
The Canterbury District Health Board says the majority of those - 2232 - are in Christchurch City.
12:27pm - At 1pm Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield will host a press conference to provide the latest on New Zealand's Omicron outbreak. You'll be able to watch that live in the video above.
12:12pm - The Novavax COVID vaccine has been approved for use in New Zealand.
Read more about the protein-based jab here.
12pm - Two doses of the Pfizer Inc and BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine was protective against severe disease in children aged 5 to 11 during the recent Omicron variant surge but quickly lost most of its ability to prevent infection in the age group, according to a study by New York State researchers.
The vaccine's efficacy against infection among those children declined to 12 percent at the end of January from 68 percent in mid-December compared to kids who did not get vaccinated, according the study, which has not yet been peer reviewed.
11:35am - There are reports of large queues for rapid antigen tests in Wellington on Tuesday, after the capital reported 604 new COVID cases on Monday.
11:30am - Shower stalls erected by protesters were removed by police in riot gear in a late night standoff near Parliament overnight.
"This work is part of our ongoing efforts to reduce the impact of the protest on Wellingtonians, particularly those who live, work and study in the area around Parliament," a police statement said.
"Our focus will remain on containing the protest within the perimeter and police will continue to seize the large infrastructure protesters are trying to bring in, if they are in breach of local bylaws or committing an offence under the Local Government Act. These items will not be returned.
"Police secured the location on Stout St to allow a forklift vehicle to remove the shower block.
"Following the operation, protesters let down the tyres of four police vehicles parked on Featherston St in retaliation, as well as the tyres of one police vehicle on Aitken St."
