There are 16,399 new community cases of COVID-19 and a further 41 virus-related deaths over the last week, the Ministry of Health has revealed.
The Health Ministry gave the update, which covered the seven-day period from Monday, October 17 to Sunday, October 23, on Tuesday.
The Ministry of Health was due to announce the weekly COVID-19 numbers on Monday, but didn't because of the Labour Weekend holiday.
The Health Ministry said 243 people remained in hospital with the virus, six of whom were in intensive care.
There are now a total of 2095 deaths confirmed as attributable to COVID-19, either as the underlying cause of death or as a contributing factor.
Overall, New Zealand has reported just over 1.8 million COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began.
The new cases come as health officials are keeping a close eye on the evolution of two new variants reported in New Zealand last week.
Last week the Health Ministry reported 14,311 new community cases, 34 virus-related deaths, 185 people in hospital and two in ICU.
