New Zealand has reached the grim milestone of two million COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began as new infections increased over the past week.
The Health Ministry gave its last update before Christmas, which covered the seven-day period from Monday, December 12 to Sunday, December 18, on Monday.
The ministry said there were 42,740 new community cases of COVID-19 and a further 64 virus-related deaths over the past week.
The Health Ministry said 581 people remained in hospital with the virus, 15 of whom were in intensive care.
There are now a total of 2288 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 two million COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began.
Last week the Health Ministry reported 40,098 new community cases, 35 virus-related deaths, 514 people in hospital and 14 in ICU.
