The number of new COVID-19 cases in the community has shot up again to 23,894 on Tuesday
But the Ministry of Health is urging caution in how the data is interpreted, saying fluctuations are expected and people should keep an eye on the seven-day rolling average. That jumped from 17,272 on Sunday to 18,669 on Tuesday.
What you need to know:
- There were 23,894 new COVID-19 cases recorded on Tuesday.
- Location of new cases: Northland (718), Auckland (9,881), Waikato (2,146), Bay of Plenty (1,691), Lakes (660), Hawke’s Bay (707), MidCentral (632), Whanganui (166), Taranaki (525), Tairāwhiti (366), Wairarapa (136), Capital and Coast (1,787), Hutt Valley (1,061), Nelson Marlborough (435), Canterbury (1,903), South Canterbury (129), Southern (914), West Coast (30); Unknown (7)
- There are 756 people in hospital, including 16 in ICU or HDU
- Locations of hospitalisations: Northland: 8; North Shore: 146; Middlemore: 191; Auckland: 196; Waikato: 70; BOP: 25; Rotorua: 7; Hawke’s Bay: 10; Taranaki: 4; MidCentral: 17; Whanganui: 3; Wairarapa: 5; Hutt Valley: 13; Capital and Coast: 33; Nelson Marlborough: 4; Canterbury: 17; Southern: 8.
- More RAT collection sites will be operating this week, including in Christchurch, Wellington and Palmerston North.
Newshub's live updates have now finished.
1:35pm - Doctors are stepping in to cover nursing shifts as staff absences reach a critical point at Middlemore Hospital.
There were 195 people in the south Auckland hospital with COVID-19 yesterday.
A text request went out to doctors on Sunday asking them to put their hand up to help cover some nursing duties.
Middlemore Hospital chief medical officer Andrew Connolly said that was because there were a high number of staff off for Covid-related reasons.
"We called on some doctors (house surgeons) who worked on our wards assisting our nursing workforce with a range of patients care," he said.
1:20pm - Here's more from the ministry:
As the outbreak progresses, we are continuing to see a larger proportion of unvaccinated cases in hospital with COVID-19.
Just 3% of eligible people aged 12 and over in New Zealand have had no doses of the vaccine. However, of those aged over 12 in Northland and Auckland hospitals with COVID-19 for whom we have vaccination data recorded, 19.4% have had no doses of the vaccine.
Even early in the Omicron outbreak, the figures show that, based on the data available, unvaccinated people are significantly over-represented in the current hospitalisation data.
The numbers send a clear message: getting vaccinated will help to keep you out of hospital if you catch COVID-19 and could save your life.
Cases reported today
Today we are reporting 23,894 community cases.
This is an increase from daily cases reported from Saturday to Monday, which were below 20,000.
Care needs to be taken when interpreting daily reported cases, which are expected to fluctuate.
We are still seeing a daily increase in COVID-19 hospitalisations and the seven-day rolling average of community cases.
From March 1 to March 7, the seven day rolling average increased from 10,698 to 17,921, and over the same period, hospitalisations increased from 373 to 696.
These numbers clearly show that Omicron is still spreading in our communities. We all need to continue to wear a mask, physical distance, and get tested where required to reduce the spread of the virus.
Contributing factors to the decrease in case numbers seen in the previous few days are likely to have been either a lower level of testing and a lower level of self-reporting of RAT test results over the weekend, or a combination of both.
There are already a large number of people reporting their rapid test results online and we’d like to both thank them as well as continue to encourage people to self-report their RATs online (both positive and negative results) on My Covid Record – as soon as they have the test result.
Leaving isolation
There have been some reports of people with COVID-19 undertaking rapid antigen testing in order to return a negative result so they can leave isolation.
Everyone who tests positive for COVID-19, and their household contacts, needs to isolate from the community to help slow the spread of the virus. However, it’s not necessary to then return a negative test once your isolation period is over in order to return to work or school. It’s also important to note that some people may continue to test positive on a RAT for some time, even once they are past their infectious stage or have recovered.
This guidance does not extend to those household contacts covered by the Close Contact Exemption Scheme who are able to continue going to work during their isolation period so long as they return a negative test before work each day.
1:15pm - The Ministry of Health has just released the latest data:
COVID-19 vaccine update
Vaccinations administered in New Zealand
- Vaccines administered to date: 4,021,580 first doses; 3,964,710 second doses; 34,076 third primary doses; 2,470,222 booster doses: 250,299 paediatric first doses and 5,500 paediatric second doses
- Vaccines administered yesterday: 265 first doses; 609 second doses; 41 third primary doses; 10,450 booster doses; 608 paediatric first doses and 310 paediatric second doses.
People vaccinated
- All Ethnicities (percentage of eligible people aged 12+): 4,066,659 first dose (96.6%); 4,007,696 second dose (95.2%), 2,471,864 boosted (72.5% of those eligible)
- Māori (percentage of eligible people aged 12+): 520,249 first dose (91.1%); 500,662 second dose (87.7%), 214,359 boosted (59.9% of those eligible)
- Pacific Peoples (percentage of eligible people aged 12+): 281,307 first dose (98.1%); 275,505 second dose (96.1%), 128,595 boosted (59.5% of those eligible)
- 5 to 11-year-olds all ethnicities: 250,133 first dose (52.5%); 5,419 second dose (1.1%)
- 5 to 11-year-olds - Māori: 38,146 first dose (33%); 907 second dose (0.8%)
- 5 to 11-year-olds - Pacific Peoples: 22,296 first dose (45.1%); 675 second dose (1.4%).
Note that the number for “People vaccinated” differs slightly from “Vaccines administered” as it includes those that have been vaccinated overseas.
Vaccination rates for all DHBs*
- Northland DHB: first dose (90.4%); second dose (88%); boosted (70.2%)
- Auckland Metro DHB: first dose (97.4%); second dose (96.2%); boosted (70.2%)
- Waikato DHB: first dose (95.4%); second dose (93.7%); boosted (68.4%)
- Bay of Plenty DHB: first dose (95.4%); second dose (93.5%); boosted (69.2%)
- Lakes DHB: first dose (93.7%); second dose (91.6%); boosted (69.7%)
- MidCentral DHB: first dose (96.9%); second dose (95.4%); boosted (74.8%)
- Tairāwhiti DHB: first dose (93.5%); second dose (90.9%); boosted (70.1%)
- Whanganui DHB: first dose (92.5%); second dose (90.6%); boosted (74.6%)
- Hawke’s Bay DHB: first dose (97.3%); second dose (95.4%); boosted (72.5%)
- Taranaki DHB: first dose (94.9%); second dose (93.3%); boosted (69.7%)
- Wairarapa DHB: first dose (96.8%); second dose (95.2%); boosted (75.8%)
- Capital & Coast DHB: first dose (98.8%); second dose (98%); boosted (80.9%)
- Hutt Valley DHB: first dose (97%); second dose (95.8%); boosted (77%)
- Nelson Marlborough DHB: first dose (96.9%); second dose (95.5%); boosted (76.4%)
- West Coast DHB: first dose (93.1%); second dose (91.3%); boosted (74.5%)
- Canterbury DHB: first dose (99.9%); second dose (98.8%); boosted (75%)
- South Canterbury DHB: first dose (95.5%); second dose (94.2%); boosted (76.3%)
- Southern DHB: first dose (98.2%); second dose (96.9%); boosted (74.9%)
*Partially and second doses percentages are for those 12+. Boosted percentages are for 18+ who have become eligible 3 months after having their second dose.
Hospitalisations*
- Cases in hospital: total number 757: Northland: 8; North Shore: 146; Middlemore: 191; Auckland: 196; Waikato: 70; BOP: 25; Rotorua: 7; Hawke’s Bay: 10; Taranaki: 4; MidCentral: 17; Whanganui: 3; Wairarapa: 5; Hutt Valley: 13; Capital and Coast: 33; Nelson Marlborough: 4; Canterbury: 17; Southern: 8.
- Average age of current hospitalisations: 56
- Cases in ICU or HDU: 16
- Vaccination status of current hospitalisations (Northern Region only, excluding Emergency Departments): Unvaccinated or not eligible (90 cases / 18.59%); partially immunised <7 days from second dose or have only received one dose (16 cases / 3.31%); double vaccinated at least 7 days before being reported as a case (169 cases / 39.92%); Received booster at least 7 days before being reported as a case (118 cases / 24.38%); unknown (91 cases / 18.8%)
*While still early in the Omicron outbreak, the figures show that, based on the data available, just 3% of eligible people aged 12 and over in New Zealand have had no doses of the vaccine, however, of those aged 12 and over in Northland and Auckland hospitals with COVID-19 for whom we have vaccination status recorded, 19% have had no doses of the vaccine.
Cases
- Seven day rolling average of community cases: 18,669
- Number of new community cases: 23,894
- Number of new community cases (PCR): 596
- Number of new community cases (RAT): 23,298
- Location of new community cases (PCR & RAT): Northland (718), Auckland (9,881), Waikato (2,146), Bay of Plenty (1,691), Lakes (660), Hawke’s Bay (707), MidCentral (632), Whanganui (166), Taranaki (525), Tairāwhiti (366), Wairarapa (136), Capital and Coast (1,787), Hutt Valley (1,061), Nelson Marlborough (435), Canterbury (1,903), South Canterbury (129), Southern (914), West Coast (30); Unknown (7)
- Number of new cases identified at the border: 19
- Number of active community cases (total): 192,452 (cases identified in the past 10 days and not yet classified as recovered)
- Confirmed cases (total): 263,448
Please note, the Ministry of Health’s daily reported cases may differ slightly from those reported at a DHB or local public health unit level. This is because of different reporting cut off times and the assignment of cases between regions, for example when a case is tested outside their usual region of residence. Total numbers will always be the formal daily case tally as reported to the WHO.
Tests
- Number of PCR tests total (last 24 hours): 4,108
- PCR tests rolling average (last 7 days up to 03/03): 12,656
- Number of Rapid Antigen Tests dispatched (last 7 days): 12.2 million
1:10pm - Here's a look at the daily COVID-19 cases this year, highlighting the large jump in recent weeks:
1:05pm - Dr McElnay tells reporters as COVID-19 cases increase, health services are stretched as more staff are required to isolate.
To address this, critical healthcare workers with COVID can return to work earlier than usual if their absence means a critical healthcare service would have to stop functioning. This has strict criteria linked to it and steps must be taken to protect other staff, patients and the person themselves.
Critical healthcare workers who are cases could return on day six of their isolation after they have two negative tests or return with no stand-down period if they work on wards where all patients are positive. This second pathway can only be used if all other options have been exhausted. There are very tight protocols for these individuals. They must also be asymptomatic or have mild symptoms.
1pm - Dr McElnay says there are 23,894 new cases across the country with 9881 in Auckland. Auckland had its highest RAT count on Monday, with 43,735 taken. She thanks everyone entering their results into My COVID Record.
There are 756 people with COVID-19 in hospital, including 16 in ICU or HDU. The largest proportion of cases in hospital are in the three Auckland DHBs.
Current data, Dr McElnay says, shows unvaccinated people are four times over-represented in current hospitalisation data. While three percent of people in New Zealand aged over 12 have had no doses of the vaccine, of New Zealand's total hospitalisations since Omicron was detected, 17 percent have had no doses.
12:55pm - You should be able to watch the livestream above now. Refresh the page if you can't see it. Director of Public Health Dr Caroline McElnay will be joined by the Ministry of Health's group manager of data and digital, Michael Dreyer, for the briefing.
12:45pm - As we wait for Tuesday's data, here's a look at the overall situation after Monday:
12:30pm - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Monday (US time) urged Americans to avoid travel to Hong Kong, New Zealand and Thailand over COVID-19 cases.
The CDC elevated its travel recommendation to "Level Four: Very High" for the three destinations. In total, the CDC urges Americans to avoid travel to more than 130 countries and territories.
"Avoid travel to New Zealand. If you must travel to New Zealand, make sure you are vaccinated and up to date with your COVID-19 vaccines before travel," The CDC says.
12:25pm - Kia ora, good afternoon, and welcome to Newshub's live updates for Tuesday.
There have been no major developments in the outbreak so far in the day, but we are expecting the latest data at 1pm alongside a press conference from Dr Caroline McElnay, the Ministry of Health's Director of Public Health.
We will bring that to you live above.
