The number of people hospitalised in New Zealand for COVID-19 has jumped dramatically after the Ministry of Health admitted a "coding issue" led to an undercount of its data.
The previous total of people hospitalised as of midnight on October 16 was 14,043, but this has now jumped to 19,476.
"The issue did not affect the hospitalisation numbers released in the Ministry's daily, and now weekly, updates, which counted the number of beds occupied with patients with COVID-19," the Ministry of Health said.
"The issue largely affected data about people hospitalised for COVID-19 who had relatively short stays of between one and three days, and who recovered after they were discharged. It had no impact on the care received by patients in our hospitals."
Data expert David Hood said the biggest changes to data before and after the undercount was fixed were in under 50-year-olds since late July.
The Ministry of Health said they've resolved the discrepancy on its website and the data now shows hospital stays that previously weren't included.
They added they continue to review and improve COVID-19 data collection and reporting as they get greater insights from complex data sources.
It comes after the Ministry of Health reported 14,311 new COVID-19 cases and a further 34 virus-related deaths over the past week.
