The Ministry of Health on Saturday revealed there were 11,560 community cases of COVID-19 in New Zealand.
They also reported 678 hospitalisations and 30 people in ICU, and another 23 deaths were linked to people with coronavirus.
It comes after 13,475 new community COVID cases were recorded on Friday. There were also 17 additional deaths of people with COVID-19 reported.
What you need to know:
- 11,560 new community COVID cases recorded on Saturday.
- 23 additional deaths of people with COVID-19 reported.
- Location of new community cases: Northland (521), Auckland (1,931), Waikato (1,004), Bay of Plenty (650), Lakes (285), Hawke’s Bay (588), MidCentral (663), Whanganui (293), Taranaki (428), Tairāwhiti (141), Wairarapa (97), Capital and Coast (820), Hutt Valley (479), Nelson Marlborough (480), Canterbury (1,866), South Canterbury (248), Southern (995), West Coast (71).
- 678 people in hospital, including 30 in ICU.
- A small number of protesters are at the Pukeahu National War Memorial Park in Wellington.
These live updates have now finished.
1:45pm - In case you missed it, the US President's chief medical officer was on Newshub Nation this morning to talk about COVID-19.
He told host Simon Shepherd the US was struggling to up its vaccination rates because of the disinformation around COVID-19 and the vaccine, and the divisiveness that had created.
He also admitted New Zealand is "doing better than we are" in responding to the threat of COVID-19, describing Aotearoa's vaccination and booster rates as "really good".
Read more here.
1:25pm - Here's what today's case numbers mean for New Zealand.
The graph shows there's been a steady decline in new cases since infections peaked a couple of weeks ago, and we are now getting roughly half the daily cases we did on our worst day (March 8), when 23,894 new cases were reported.
Today's case numbers were the second-lowest since February 24.
1:15pm -
Hospitalisations
- Cases in hospital: total number 678: Northland: 14; North Shore: 109; Middlemore: 135; Auckland: 106; Waikato: 76; Bay of Plenty: 32; Lakes: 17; Tairāwhiti: 4, Hawke’s Bay: 36; Taranaki: 17; Whanganui: 3; MidCentral: 18; Hutt Valley: 20; Capital and Coast: 20; Nelson Marlborough: 9; Canterbury: 33; Southern: 29
- Average age of current hospitalisations: 58
- Cases in ICU or HDU: 30
Cases
- Seven day rolling average of community cases: 13,751
- Seven day rolling average (as at Saturday last week): 16,943
- Number of new community cases: 11,560
- Number of new community cases (PCR): 317
- Number of new community cases (RAT): 11,243
- Location of new community cases (PCR & RAT): Northland (521), Auckland (1,931), Waikato (1,004), Bay of Plenty (650), Lakes (285), Hawke’s Bay (588), MidCentral (663), Whanganui (293), Taranaki (428), Tairāwhiti (141), Wairarapa (97), Capital and Coast (820), Hutt Valley (479), Nelson Marlborough (480), Canterbury (1,866), South Canterbury (248), Southern (995), West Coast (71)
- Number of new cases identified at the border: 41
- Number of active community cases (total): 96,243 (cases identified in the past 7 days and not yet classified as recovered)
- Confirmed cases (total): 681,044
Please note, the Ministry of Health’s daily reported cases may differ slightly from those reported at a DHB or local public health unit level. This is because of different reporting cut off times and the assignment of cases between regions, for example when a case is tested outside their usual region of residence. Total numbers will always be the formal daily case tally as reported to the WHO.
Tests
- Number of PCR tests total (last 24 hours): 3,491
- Number of Rapid Antigen Tests reported total (last 24 hours): 23,499
- PCR tests rolling average (last 7 days): 2,830
- Number of Rapid Antigen Tests dispatched (last 7 days as of 31/03/22): 6.2 million. (Please note that this number is not updated over the weekend and reflects the number of tests as of Friday).
1:12pm -
Vaccinations administered in New Zealand
- Vaccines administered to date: 4,025,746 first doses; 3,974,784 second doses; 34,370 third primary doses; 2,586,376 booster doses: 259,156 paediatric first doses and 85,530 paediatric second doses
- Vaccines administered yesterday: 60 first doses; 176 second doses; 23 third primary doses; 2,121 booster doses; 120 paediatric first doses and 2,832 paediatric second doses
People vaccinated
- All Ethnicities (percentage of eligible people aged 12+): 4,055,171 first dose (96.3%); 4,002,593 second dose (95.1%), 2,584,304 boosted (72.7% of those eligible)
- Māori (percentage of eligible people aged 12+): 520,363 first dose (91.1%); 502,887 second dose (88.1%), 229,388 boosted (57.6% of those eligible)
- Pacific Peoples (percentage of eligible people aged 12+): 281,534 first dose (98.2%); 276,393 second dose (96.4%), 136,578 boosted (59.3% of those eligible)
- 5 to 11-year-olds all ethnicities: 257,203 first dose (54%); 83,652 second dose (17.6%)
- 5 to 11-year-olds - Māori: 40,364 first dose (34.9%); 9,352 second dose (8.1%)
- 5 to 11-year-olds - Pacific Peoples: 23,271 first dose (47.1%); 4,426 second dose (9%)
Note that the number for “People vaccinated” differs slightly from “Vaccines administered” as it includes those that have been vaccinated overseas.
Vaccination rates for all DHBs
- Northland DHB: first dose (90.1%); second dose (87.9%); boosted (69.4%)
- Auckland Metro DHB: first dose (97.2%); second dose (96.1%); boosted (71.2%)
- Waikato DHB: first dose (95.1%); second dose (93.5%); boosted (68.3%)
- Bay of Plenty DHB: first dose (95%); second dose (93.3%); boosted (67.9%)
- Lakes DHB: first dose (93.2%); second dose (91.3%); boosted (68.4%)
- MidCentral DHB: first dose (96.5%); second dose (95.2%); boosted (74.1%)
- Tairāwhiti DHB: first dose (93.2%); second dose (90.9%); boosted (68.3%)
- Whanganui DHB: first dose (91.9%); second dose (90.4%); boosted (73.4%)
- Hawke’s Bay DHB: first dose (97.1%); second dose (95.4%); boosted (72%)
- Taranaki DHB: first dose (94.6%); second dose (93.2%); boosted (70%)
- Wairarapa DHB: first dose (96.4%); second dose (94.9%); boosted (74.8%)
- Capital & Coast DHB: first dose (98.5%); second dose (97.8%); boosted (81.1%)
- Hutt Valley DHB: first dose (96.6%); second dose (95.6%); boosted (76.9%)
- Nelson Marlborough DHB: first dose (96.4%); second dose (95.1%); boosted (75.4%)
- West Coast DHB: first dose (92.6%); second dose (91.1%); boosted (73.3%)
- Canterbury DHB: first dose (99.7%); second dose (98.7%); boosted (75.9%)
- South Canterbury DHB: first dose (94.9%); second dose (93.8%); boosted (76.3%)
- Southern DHB: first dose (98.3%); second dose (97.2%); boosted (74.8%)
Partially and second doses percentages are for those 12+. Boosted percentages are for 18+ who have become eligible 3 months after having their second dose
Percentages are based on 2020 HSU data - a health-specific population denominator. As the population continues to change over time, coverage rates can exceed 100%.
1:07pm - Some more from the ministry on COVID-19 deaths.
"Today we are sadly reporting the deaths of 23 people with COVID-19. The deaths being reported today include people who have died over the past five days. Delays to reporting can be associated with people dying with COVID-19, rather than from COVID-19, and COVID being discovered only after they have died.
"These deaths take the total number of publicly reported deaths with COVID-19 to 378 and the 7-day rolling average of reported deaths is 18.
"Of the people whose deaths we are reporting today, one was from Northland, seven from the Auckland region, two from Lakes DHB, two from MidCentral, seven from the Wellington region, one from Nelson Marlborough, one from Canterbury, and two from Southern.
"One person was in their 30s, two were in their 50s, one in their 60s, one in their 70s, 13 in their 80s, and five were over-90.
"Twelve were male and 11 were female.
"Out of respect, we will be making no further comment."
1:03pm - Here's what the ministry had to say.
"Today we are reporting 11,560 community cases, 678 hospitalisations and 23 deaths.
"The seven-day rolling average of case numbers continues to decline, Today's seven-day rolling average is 13,751, while the seven-day rolling average of cases as at last Saturday was 16,943.
"At this point in the outbreak, we are continuing to report people dying with COVID-19 on a daily basis despite the number of community cases declining in many parts of the country. Sadly, this is not unexpected, and our thoughts are with the families of these people.
"As has occurred with Omicron overseas, while COVID-19 cases are usually seen in higher numbers among younger people early in the outbreak, over time the more severe and fatal consequences of the virus fall disproportionately on our older and more vulnerable populations.
"Among the deaths we are reporting today are people with pre-existing conditions and older people living in aged care facilities.
"Getting boosted continues to be one of the most important ways people can protect themselves against severe illness and can be lifesaving.
"There is a much lower risk of being hospitalised if you are up to date with your vaccinations, which, for Omicron, includes a third or booster dose if eligible."
1pm - 11,560 community cases; 678 hospitalisations; 30 in ICU; 23 deaths.
12:50pm - We're hopefully just 10 minutes away from getting the latest COVID-19 figures.
We'll update you as soon as the Ministry of Health releases the details.
