More Than 13,000 Boosters Given Yesterday; 91 Community Cases; 10 In Hospital

There were also 13,376 booster doses administered yesterday, taking the total to date to 1,300,364. Also, 4,208 paediatric doses were given yesterday, bringing the total to 163,491.

With Omicron in New Zealand, the best thing you can do is get your booster as soon as it is due. Evidence to date is that the rate of adverse reactions to a booster doses is similar to people receiving their second dose.

Boosters lower your chances of getting very sick and being hospitalised. Being boosted also helps slow the spread of the virus. That’s why it’s important to get your booster four months after your second dose - so if you’re over 18 and your booster is due, please get it now.

Omicron update

Public health teams are continuing to manage both Omicron and Delta cases in the community through rapidly isolating cases and contacts, contact tracing, and testing to slow the spread.

Whole genome sequencing continues to take place on all new unlinked cases of Covid-19 and provides additional information to aid public health decisions. The Omicron variant of Covid-19 is now the dominant variant, therefore the specific variant of the virus is no longer being reported alongside case numbers. As cases continue to increase, the priority for whole genome sequencing will be to highlight patterns of virus spread rather than individual cases.

Wearing a mask, physical distancing and scanning in using the COVID-19 Tracer app when you’re out and about will all help slow the spread of Omicron.

The most common early symptoms of the Omicron variant are a sore or scratchy throat, and a runny nose. So if you have these symptoms, please get a test, and stay at home until you get a negative result and symptoms are resolved.

Testing and vaccination centre locations nationwide can be found on the Healthpoint website.

COVID-19 vaccine update

• Vaccines administered to date (percentage of eligible people): 4,040,973 first doses (96%); 3,961,693 second doses (94%); 1,300,364 booster doses (67%)
• Vaccines administered yesterday: 401 first doses;710 second doses; 4,208 paediatric doses; 13,376 booster doses.
• Māori (percentage of eligible people aged 12+): 512,183 first doses (90%); 485,202 seconddoses (85%).
• Pacific Peoples (percentage of eligible people aged 12+): 277,145 firstdoses (97%); 269,050 second doses (94%).
• Paediatric vaccines administered to date (percentage of 5-11-year-olds): 163,495 first doses (34%)
• Māori (percentage of eligible people aged 5-11): 21,190 first doses (18%)
• Pacific Peoples (percentage of eligible people aged 5-11): 11,829 firstdoses (24%)

Vaccination rates for all DHBs (percentage of eligible people aged 12 +)

• Northland DHB: First doses (90%); second doses (87%)
• Auckland Metro DHBs: First doses (97%); second doses (95%)
• Waikato DHB: First doses (95%); second doses (92%)
• Bay of Plenty DHB: First doses (95%); second doses (92%)
• Lakes DHB: First doses (93%); second doses (90%)
• MidCentral DHB: First doses (96%); second doses (94%)
• Tairawhiti DHB: First doses (93%); second doses (89%)
• Whanganui DHB: First doses (92%); second doses (89%)
• Hawke’s Bay: First doses (96%); second doses (94%)
• Taranaki DHB: First doses (94%); second doses (92%)
• Wairarapa DHB: First doses (96%); second doses (94%)
• Capital and Coast DHB: First doses (98%); second doses (97%)
• Hutt Valley DHB: First doses (97%); second doses (95%)
• Nelson Marlborough DHB: First doses (96%); second doses (94%)
• West Coast DHB: First doses (93%); second doses (90%)
• Canterbury DHB: First doses (99%); second doses (97%)
• South Canterbury DHB: First doses (95%); second doses (93%)
• Southern DHB: First doses (97%); second doses (96%)

Hospitalisations

• Cases in hospital: 10; North Shore: 1; Middlemore: 3; Auckland: 1; Rotorua: 3, Waikato 1, Hawke’s Bay 1
• Average age of current hospitalisations: 54
• Cases in ICU or HDU: 0
• Vaccination status of current hospitalisations (Northern Region wards only): Unvaccinated or not eligible (N/A cases / 0%); partially immunised <7 days from second dose or have only received one dose (1 case / 20%); fully vaccinated at least 7 days before being reported as a case (4 cases / 80%)

Cases

• Seven day rolling average of community cases: 69
• Seven day rolling average of border cases: 40
• Number of new community cases: 91
• Number of new cases identified at the border: 39
• Location of new community cases: Northland (1), Auckland (65), Waikato (17), Tairāwhiti (1), Lakes (3), Bay of Plenty (1), Hawke’s Bay (2), Wellington (1)
• Number of community cases (total):12,005 (in current community outbreaks)
• Cases epidemiologically linked (total): 9,085
• Number of active cases (total): 771 (cases identified in the past 21 days and not yet classified as recovered)
• Confirmed cases (total): 16,039

Contacts

• Number of active contacts being managed (total): 8,647
• Percentage who has received an outbound call from contact tracers (to confirm testing and isolation requirements): 74%
• Percentage who has returned at least one result: 68%

Tests

• Number of tests total (last 24 hours):13,281
• Tests rolling average (last 7 days): 19,931
• Auckland tests total (last 24 hours): 6,104

Wastewater

No unusual detections to report.

NZ COVID Tracer

• Poster scans in the 24 hours to midday yesterday: 2,214,563
• Manual diary entries in the 24 hours to midday:43,732

My Vaccine Pass

• My vaccine pass downloads total: 4,989,762
• My vaccine pass downloads (last 24 hours): 7,367

Today’s cases

We are reporting new community cases in Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Lakes, Bay of Plenty, Tairāwhiti, Hawke’s Bay, and Wellington.

In addition, due to the Ministry’s daily cut-off period for reporting, we are also announcing out-of-cycle cases for Tairāwhiti.

The Ministry’s IT team have investigated Auckland’s case numbers yesterday. A suspected issue was reconciled, and the numbers for Auckland for yesterday will remain at 56. There are not a further 40 cases to report today.

Northland

Today we are reporting one new case in Northland. The case is a household contact of a previously reported Omicron case.

Auckland

There are 65 cases to report in Auckland today.

Health and welfare providers are now supporting 1,025 people in the region to isolate at home, including 354 cases.

Waikato

There are 17 new cases in the Waikato today, with eight linked to previous cases and seven under investigation. Nine are reported for Hamilton, four in Morrinsville, one in Cambridge, one in Paeroa. Two remain under investigation.

There were 1090 tests processed in Waikato yesterday.

In the Waikato, Public Health, primary care and manaaki providers are supporting 54 cases to isolate at home.

Lakes

Three new cases are being reported in Rotorua today. These cases are all household contacts of previously reported Omicron cases.

Bay of Plenty

There is one new case being reported in Tauranga today. The case is a household contact of a previously reported Omicron case.

Tairāwhiti

There is one new case to report in Tairāwhiti today. The case is linked to an existing case and the Soundsplash music festival in Hamilton.

In addition, there are a further four cases being announced today, which will be officially added to the Ministry’s case numbers tomorrow. Three of these cases are also linked to existing cases and the Soundsplash music festival. A further case has investigations ongoing.

Hawke’s Bay

Two new cases are being reported in Hawke’s Bay today, both with links established to a previously reported Delta case.

Wellington

Today we are reporting one new case in Wellington.

The case is linked to an event in Auckland.

Case investigations are underway to identify exposure events that link to this case.

Continue to check for new locations of interest in the Wellington region on the Ministry of Health’s website.

In addition, whole genome sequencing has confirmed a case in the Hutt Valley reported yesterday is confirmed as having the Omicron variant.

With recent positive wastewater test results in Porirua treatment plant, we urge anyone who lives in Porirua and Wellington’s northern suburbs to get a test if they feel unwell with COVID-19 like symptoms.

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