As New Zealand shifts into the winter months the Omicron outbreak is in full swing with a warning there could be a second wave as the weather turns colder.
COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins warned last month New Zealand would stay at the orange traffic light setting, saying a possible rise in cases over winter was one of the reasons.
He also warned the Government may need to tighten its response should the COVID-19 numbers rise.
"Our latest COVID-19 modelling indicates that under current conditions, there is a likelihood of a secondary wave of cases appearing," Hipkins said in May.
"We have always been really clear as we head into winter if we do see another peak in COVID-19 cases we may have to escalate our response."
What you need to know:
- New Zealand recorded 8182 new community cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, slightly down from Tuesday.
- Thirteen additional deaths of people with COVID-19 were reported.
- There are 373 people in hospital, eight of whom are in ICU.
- Location of new community cases (PCR & RAT): Northland (223), Auckland (2,534), Waikato (623), Bay of Plenty (245), Lakes (99), Hawke’s Bay (208), MidCentral (335), Whanganui (105), Taranaki (234), Tairāwhiti (45), Wairarapa (60), Capital and Coast (716), Hutt Valley (286), Nelson Marlborough (334), Canterbury (1,322), South Canterbury (146), Southern (592), West Coast (69), Unknown (6)
- Cases in hospital - total number 373: Northland: 11; Waitemata: 36; Counties Manukau: 34; Auckland: 66; Waikato: 22; Bay of Plenty: 7; Lakes: 4; Tairāwhiti: 6; Hawke’s Bay: 14; Taranaki: 11; Whanganui: 2; MidCentral: 14; Wairarapa: 1; Hutt Valley: 4; Capital and Coast: 37; Nelson Marlborough: 9; Canterbury: 52; South Canterbury: 13; West Coast: 1; Southern: 29.
1:10pm - Case numbers broken down:
- Seven day rolling average of community cases: 6,893
- Seven day rolling average (as at same day last week): 7,308
- Number of new community cases: 8,182
- Number of new community cases (PCR): 258
- Number of new community cases (RAT): 7,924
- Location of new community cases (PCR & RAT): Northland (223), Auckland (2,534), Waikato (623), Bay of Plenty (245), Lakes (99), Hawke’s Bay (208), MidCentral (335), Whanganui (105), Taranaki (234), Tairāwhiti (45), Wairarapa (60), Capital and Coast (716), Hutt Valley (286), Nelson Marlborough (334), Canterbury (1,322), South Canterbury (146), Southern (592), West Coast (69), Unknown (6)
- Number of new imported cases: 89
- Number of active community cases (total): 48,236 (cases identified in the past 7 days and not yet classified as recovered)
- Confirmed cases (total): 1,165,498
Vacinations
- Vaccines administered to date: 4,027,565 first doses; 3,979,580 second doses; 32,490 third primary doses; 2,658,811 booster doses: 262,994 paediatric first doses and 124,523 paediatric second doses.
- Vaccines administered yesterday: 51 first doses; 51 second doses; 38 third primary doses; 824 booster doses; 34 paediatric first doses and 156 paediatric second doses.
The MoH says only 11.7 percent of eligible children between the ages of 16 to 17 have received their booster jab, while only 25.5 percent of eligible 5-11 years olds have received ther second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
All ethnicities (percentage of eligible people aged 12+): 4,054,539 first dose (96.3%); 4,005,845 second dose (95.2%), 2,640,206 boosted (of the 18+ population) (72.6% of those eligible)
Māori (percentage of eligible people aged 12+): 521,374 first dose (91.3%); 504,587 second dose (88.4%), 237,064 boosted (of the 18+ population) (55.8% of those eligible)
Pacific Peoples (percentage of eligible people aged 12+): 282,109 first dose (98.4%); 277,313 second dose (96.7%), 142,011 boosted (of the 18+ population) (59.2% of those eligible)
16 to 17-year-old booster uptake (all ethnicities): 10,777 boosted (11.7% of those eligible)
16 to 17-year-old booster uptake (Māori): 995 boosted (5.9% of those eligible)
16 to 17-year-old booster uptake (Pacific Peoples): 557 boosted (5.9% of those eligible)
5 to 11-year-olds all ethnicities: 259,894 first dose (54.6%); 121,450 second dose (25.5%)
5 to 11-year-olds - Māori: 41,012 first dose (35.5%); 14,117 second dose (12.2%)
1:02pm - The Ministry of Health reports 8,182 new community cases on Wednesday, 373 people in hospital and 13 deaths of people with COVID-19.
The seven-day rolling average of community case numbers is 6,893 – last Wednesday, it was 7,308.
COVID-19 deaths
Thirteen people with COVID-19 have died in the past five days.
These deaths take the total number of publicly reported deaths with COVID-19 to 1185 and the seven-day rolling average of reported deaths is 14.
Of the people whose deaths reported on Wednesday; four were from the Auckland region, two were from Canterbury, and one each from Bay of Plenty, Tairāwhiti, Hawke’s Bay, Hutt Valley, Capital and Coast, Nelson Marlborough, and Southern.
One person was in their 40s, two were in their 70s, five were in their 80s, and five were aged over 90.
Of these people, six were female and seven were male.
This is a very sad time for whānau and friends and our thoughts and condolences are with them.
12:50pm - The Mininstry of Health says dedicated pharmacists will now able to prescribe antiviral medicines.
This will mean some pharmacists will be able to prescribe antiviral medicines for treating COVID-19, instead of needing to wait to see another prescriber.
The decision to enable pharmacists to prescribe a specific medicine is independent from Medsafe’s decision to approve a medicine for use or Pharmac’s decision to fund a medicine
Clinical Chief Advisor Andi Shirtcliffe said: “Increasing the range of prescribers will improve access to these medicines for a wider range of communities and get timely treatment to more of the people who are at risk of severe illness.”
12:45pm - Kia ora, good afternoon and welcome to Newshub's live updates of the COVID-19 outbreak for Tuesday.
