The latest COVID-19 figures from the Ministry of Health have been released and Cabinet has decided all of New Zealand will stay in red.
Despite no move out of red, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern had told AM on Monday that there was a "possibility" certain regions of New Zealand could move to the orange light setting as hospitalisations start to fall and plateau.
What you need to know:
- All of New Zealand is staying in the red traffic light setting
- 10,205 new community COVID cases were recorded on Monday.
- Nine additional deaths of people with COVID-19 have been reported.
- Location of new community cases: Northland (407), Auckland (1,835), Waikato (878), Bay of Plenty (571), Lakes (267), Hawke’s Bay (454), MidCentral (531), Whanganui (249), Taranaki (357), Tairāwhiti (125), Wairarapa (92), Capital and Coast (745), Hutt Valley (390), Nelson Marlborough (398), Canterbury (1,664), South Canterbury (207), Southern (958), West Coast (76); Unknown (1)
- There are 734 people in hospital, including 25 in ICU
- The average age of current hospitalisations: 59
- Locations of hospitalisations: Northland: 28; Waitemata: 111; Counties Manukau: 131; Auckland: 108; Waikato: 75; Bay of Plenty: 37; Lakes: 14; Tairāwhiti: 3, Hawke’s Bay: 33; Taranaki: 21; Whanganui: 5; MidCentral: 20; Wairarapa: 2; Hutt Valley: 21; Capital and Coast: 16; Nelson Marlborough: 13; Canterbury: 49; South Canterbury: 9; West Coast: 5; Southern: 33
- Number of new cases identified at the border: 33
These live updates have finished.
5:25pm - ACT leader David Seymour has savaged the Prime Minister's update this afternoon and says Ardern has announced that "she's doing nothing".
"Today we got an announcement that the announcement wasn’t being announced, and that another announcement might come later," he said.
"When asked about a hospitality sector suffering under her draconian restrictions, Jacinda said she wanted people to feel safe. Why doesn't she just let people take responsibility for themselves?"
Seymour said instead of "ending our misery" and letting people "get on with our lives", Ardern is reserving announcements for another date to get "more podium time".
"There is no longer any logical framework to the Government's response. The traffic light system was designed to manage crowd sizes in combination with vaccine passes. Now there are no vaccine passes, and crowd sizes are designed for Delta, so staying in red really just means we're choosing to carry on as normal but knee cap the event industry," Seymour said.
"It is clearly fatigued and I get that, but people who've been through two years of restrictions need clarity and logic from the Government. All we are getting now is life on Jacinda's whims, and people cannot afford it.
"“The rest of the world is moving on and dropping restrictions. We desperately need tourists to want to come here – why would they choose New Zealand if they face restrictions when they arrive."
Seymour adds that businesses can't plan for the future, economic indicators are "falling through the floor, inflation is skyrocketing, and Ardern's "unworkable regulations are pushing us towards recession".
"It's time to move on. It's time to drop gathering limits. It's time to give tourists a reason to come there. It's time to get on with our lives."
5:15pm - Heart of the City says it is disappointed that certainty hasn't been given with today's announcement since there's no date for a move to orange and no extension of targeted assistance for impacted businesses.
Heart of the City chief executive Viv Beck said while foot traffic and spending is increasing, this is off a low base and the momentum needs to be kept up.
"Things have started to look up over the last week or so with a noticeable increase in foot traffic and spending has improved – but with the numbers still down significantly on last year, we needed Orange to bring a major injection of people back into the city centre," she said.
"The latest spending results show that city centre spending was more than 40 percent down on the same time last year, and pedestrian counts nearly 50 percent down. This is still seriously hurting some businesses and COVID-19 business support payments should now be extended. The stress on some right now is untenable."
But Beck says that Heart of the City isn't waiting until orange to plan for activity that's focused on attracting people to the city.
"We are focused on making the city centre as vibrant as can be with some great initiatives planned, including a campaign that began today to encourage workers back to the office. We have to keep looking forward and we are energised about the coming months and helping our businesses come through this devastating experience," she said.
"The reality is that there are still businesses that can't trade under orange and those major indoor events that are not possible under red are a big drawcard for visitors. Some may be able to get compensation if they can't proceed but the sectors around them can't."
5:05pm - Wellington Police say they are continuing to monitor planned protest activity throughout the region.
"Protests have been peaceful and there have been no incidents," they say.
4:55pm - Here's a statement from the Restaurant Association on this afternoon's announcement:
The decision to stay at the red traffic light level will come as a bitter disappointment for the hospitality industry which continues to struggle under the current restrictions.
"Patronage continues to be down on previous years and whilst this is starting to pick up, the decision to stay in red will not do much to help consumer confidence," says Marisa Bidois, CEO of the Restaurant Association.
The March member feedback survey from the Restaurant Association indicated that businesses continue to struggle with 90 per cent of respondents saying their revenue is down on 2021 with the average revenue decrease sitting at 34 percent.
"We are not public health experts, however the seated and separated rule is incredibly challenging for venues.
"Hospitality venues are places where people want to socialise with others, particularly in bars and clubs so the enforcement of this rule will continue to be a sizeable issue for the industry.
"Once again, we continue to advocate for financial support in the form of a wage subsidy for our businesses who are facing significantly reduced patronage as a result of this outbreak.
"As well as more financial support, we would also like to see the Government outline a tangible vision for the recovery of our sector which clearly sets out the indicators required for a move to orange.
"We believe this should include a change of rhetoric from one of fear to one of hope and incentives, such as a subsidized dining scheme, to get people back out and stimulating the economy."
4:52pm - The press conference has finished.
4:46pm - Dr Bloomfield says advice on a fourth COVID-19 vaccine is heading to Cabinet ministers soon.
4:42pm - Dr Bloomfield says ventilation has been a priority during the pandemic, especially for businesses and schools.
4:39pm - Dr Bloomfield says the number of new hosptial admissions is dropping.
The number of positive people arriving at hospital is now about one in 10, he says.
4:35pm - Ardern says she's keeping an eye on new hospital admissions rather than the number of current patients, since the length of stay has increased during Omicron.
She adds that there will be a baseline of COVID-19 cases in the community and hospitals that New Zealanders should expect.
4:32pm - Ardern again reiterates the impact COVID-19 is having on hospitals and the health system.
She says that she wants New Zealanders to have an as normal life as possible and she wouldn't schedule a review period if she didn't think this would be possible.
4:28pm - Here's the full announcement on the red traffic light decision from COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins:
New Zealand is seeing a drop in cases, but as Omicron takes hold in our regions, public health advice tells us now is not the time for the country to move to Orange, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins confirmed today.
"It's encouraging to see fewer cases. Yesterday was the lowest number we've seen since 25 February," Chris Hipkins said.
"Four weeks ago we were averaging around 20,000 cases a day, compared to today where that average is just over 13,000. But while the drop in cases is mainly in Auckland and Wellington, other places aren't yet in the same position.
"Hospitalisations have dropped in Auckland, but continue to plateau or increase in regions like Canterbury, Waikato and Northland. Hospitalisations are not peaking in some DHBs until mid-April.
"As a result, the public health advice is that it is not yet the time to ease the existing restrictions and drop down to Orange. Ministers will review these settings again next week.
"We have put this check in place due to the pace at which we are seeing the COVID-19 situation changing, and acknowledging that Easter and the upcoming school holidays are an important time for businesses - particularly those in our tourist regions," Chris Hipkins said.
As we've learned over the last two years, keeping ourselves and each other safe from COVID-19 continues to be a team effort.
"Nearly two weeks ago we announced changes to the COVID-19 Protection Framework to make it simpler and allow us to live more normal lives, while keeping the public health measures in place that we know work. We also announced changes to vaccine passes and mandates," Chris Hipkins said.
"At 11:59pm tonight, Kiwis will no longer need to use My Vaccine Pass. This was an extremely useful tool while we were getting the country vaccinated and in our fight against Delta, but with around 95% of the eligible adult population at least double dosed, we no longer need this. Businesses will still be able to use the system if they choose to but from tonight, it's not required.
"Government vaccine mandates for all sectors except health and care workers, prison staff, and border workers will be removed from tonight. They remain for health and care workers and prison staff because they come into contact with a lot of people who are at high risk of serious illness from COVID-19, and for our border workers because they are the first people who would likely be exposed to any new variant of concern that emerges internationally.
"Our COVID-19 response has always prioritised the health of kiwis by ensuring we're protecting our immunocompromised and high-risk members in our communities.
"Red means wearing a face mask in most indoor settings, limiting indoor capacity to 200, and if you catch COVID-19 - or someone you live with does - isolating for 7 days.
"Next to being vaccinated and having a booster, face masks are our best defence against COVID-19. Wearing them can reduce new cases of the virus by as much as 53%. That means by putting on a face mask you are contributing to lowering our case numbers, lowering the numbers of people in hospital, and lowering the number of deaths," Chris Hipkins said.
4:19pm - Ardern is currently talking about Russia. Any further COVID-19 updates will be posted here.
4:18pm - Dr Bloomfield says it's the younger age groups who are lagging behind on getting their booster.
4:17pm - Ardern reiterates how boosters "make a difference" and again encourages people to get vaccinated.
4:14pm - Dr Bloomfield says mask-use remains a critical aspect of the public health response, including for children.
Ardern says adding in another review period before the school holidays is something they wanted to do.
She also acknowledged the difficulty for indoor venues to have gatherings and events under red and the current settings.
4:09pm - Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield is also at the press conference.
He says there is quite a long tail of people in hospital and he also wants to protect the health system.
4:08pm - Ardern says the decision to stay in red is so New Zealand doesn't lose the gains it made earlier in the pandemic.
She says that Auckland has made "significant progress", but she is mindful of the healthcare workforce.
4:06pm - Ardern says that they need to me mindful of the number of cases still popping up and the pressure this puts on the health system.
She also encourages people to get vaccinated or get their booster. There are 900,000 people currently due their booster.
4:04pm - Ardern mentions how outdoor gatherings restrictions have lifted and outdoor activities have resumed.
She says that New Zealand will stay in red and the next review will be April 14.
4:02pm - Ardern has arrived. She is beginning by talking about Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
3:45pm - We are about 15 minutes away from the Prime Minister's post-Cabinet press conference.
You'll be able to watch that in the video player above once the feed starts coming through. Refresh your page if you can't see it.
3:25pm - Here's an overview of vaccine data across district health boards for first and second doses, and boosters.
3pm - Monday marks the fourth day of the anti-COVID law 14-day protest, with Monday's protest theme being 'Economic Destruction'.
Protesters have spent the afternoon outside the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment listening to speeches and showing off their dance moves to songs like 'Wagon Wheel' and 'Macarena'.
The group of about 20-30 people now plan to walk to Treasury where similar events are likely to take place.
- Reporting by Seni Iasona
2:35pm - A+ blood stocks across New Zealand are now critically low amid the Omicron outbreak and an urgent appeal is being made for people to donate.
The challenges of the country's Omicron outbreak mean donors are cancelling appointments, but demand for A+ blood also spiked 19 percent in the past week.
New Zealand Blood Service (NZBS) national marketing and communications manager Asuka Burge said the situation was serious.
2:15pm - This is the latest breakdown on the vaccine uptake among the 12+ and 5-11 age groups:
2pm - Here's the latest COVID-19 situation summary from the Ministry of Health:
1:45pm - A new COVID variant which is potentially 10 percent more transmissible than Omicron is being monitored by health authorities around the world.
The new variant, XE, was first detected in the United Kingdom on January 19 and more than 600 cases have been confirmed in the country since.
XE is recombinant of two other strains, BA.1 - the original strain of Omicron - and BA.2.
1:40pm - Chief Justice Helen Winkelmann has confirmed vaccine passes will no longer be required to enter courts, but people attending for more than one day may be asked to take a RAT on each morning.
"The requirement to take a test will also apply to people attending hearings of half a day or longer if the presiding judge so directs."
Surgical or KN95 masks (or equivalent) must continue to be worn inside.
"This pandemic requires us to review our protocols regularly to make sure they adapt to the demands of COVID-19, and the developments in our understanding of the most effective precautions to limit transmission.
"We are advised that a combination of stringent mask-wearing requirements inside the courthouse, and rapid antigen testing to detect COVID-19 will provide a substantial level of protection against transmission of the virus in our buildings."
1:30pm - Here's what the Ministry of Health had to say about the deaths:
"Today we are sadly reporting the deaths of 9 people with COVID-19. The deaths being reported today include people who have died over the past 3 days. Delays to reporting can be associated with people dying with COVID-19, rather than from COVID-19, and COVID being discovered only after they have died.
"These deaths take the total number of publicly reported deaths with COVID-19 to 405 and the 7-day rolling average of reported deaths is 20.
"Of the people whose deaths we are reporting today, one person was from the Auckland region, three from Waikato, two from Lakes, two from the Wellington region, and one from Southern.
"One person was in their 50s, one in their 60s, one in their 70s, two in their 80s, and four were over-90.
"Five were men and four were women.
"Out of respect, we will be making no further comment."
1:20pm - There are 10,205 new community cases, 734 people in hospital (25 in ICU) and nine new deaths to report, the Ministry of Health says.
"The seven-day rolling average of case numbers continues to decline, today's seven-day rolling average is 13,218, while the seven-day rolling average of cases as at last Monday was 16,102."
Vaccinations administered in New Zealand
- Vaccines administered to date: 4,025,670 first doses; 3,974,925 second doses; 34,383 third primary doses; 2,589,237 booster doses: 259,478 paediatric first doses and 90,890 paediatric second doses
- Vaccines administered yesterday: 22 first doses; 65 second doses; 1 third primary doses; 866 booster doses; 95 paediatric first doses and 1,477 paediatric second doses
People vaccinated
- All Ethnicities (percentage of eligible people aged 12+): 4,055,352 first dose (96.3%); 4,002,833 second dose (95.1%), 2,587,110 boosted (72.7% of those eligible)
- Māori (percentage of eligible people aged 12+): 520,417 first dose (91.1%); 502,966 second dose (88.1%), 229,803 boosted (57.5% of those eligible)
- Pacific Peoples (percentage of eligible people aged 12+): 281,568 first dose (98.2%); 276,432 second dose (96.4%), 136,939 boosted (59.3% of those eligible)
- 5 to 11-year-olds all ethnicities: 257,402 first dose (54%); 88,882 second dose (18.7%)
- 5 to 11-year-olds - Māori: 40,450 first dose (35%); 9,957 second dose (8.6%)
- 5 to 11-year-olds - Pacific Peoples: 23,307 first dose (47.2%); 4,768 second dose (9.7%)
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 (90.1%); second dose (87.9%); boosted (69.4%)
- Auckland Metro DHB: first dose (97.2%); second dose (96.1%); boosted (71.3%)
- Waikato DHB: first dose (95.1%); second dose (93.5%); boosted (68.3%)
- Bay of Plenty DHB: first dose (95%); second dose (93.3%); boosted (67.8%)
- Lakes DHB: first dose (93.2%); second dose (91.3%); boosted (68.4%)
- MidCentral DHB: first dose (96.5%); second dose (95.2%); boosted (74.1%)
- Tairāwhiti DHB: first dose (93.2%); second dose (90.9%); boosted (68.3%)
- Whanganui DHB: first dose (91.9%); second dose (90.4%); boosted (73.4%)
- Hawke’s Bay DHB: first dose (97.1%); second dose (95.4%); boosted (71.9%)
- Taranaki DHB: first dose (94.6%); second dose (93.2%); boosted (70%)
- Wairarapa DHB: first dose (96.4%); second dose (94.9%); boosted (74.7%)
- Capital & Coast DHB: first dose (98.5%); second dose (97.8%); boosted (81.1%)
- Hutt Valley DHB: first dose (96.6%); second dose (95.6%); boosted (76.9%)
- Nelson Marlborough DHB: first dose (96.4%); second dose (95.1%); boosted (75.4%)
- West Coast DHB: first dose (92.6%); second dose (91.2%); boosted (73.3%)
- Canterbury DHB: first dose (99.7%); second dose (98.7%); boosted (75.9%)
- South Canterbury DHB: first dose (94.9%); second dose (93.8%); boosted (76.3%)
- Southern DHB: first dose (98.3%); second dose (97.2%); boosted (74.8%)
*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
Percentages are based on 2020 HSU data - a health-specific population denominator. As the population continues to change over time, coverage rates can exceed 100%.
Hospitalisations
- Cases in hospital: total number 734: Northland: 28; Waitemata: 111; Counties Manukau: 131; Auckland: 108; Waikato: 75; Bay of Plenty: 37; Lakes: 14; Tairāwhiti: 3, Hawke’s Bay: 33; Taranaki: 21; Whanganui: 5; MidCentral: 20; Wairarapa: 2; Hutt Valley: 21; Capital and Coast: 16; Nelson Marlborough: 13; Canterbury: 49; South Canterbury: 9; West Coast: 5; Southern: 33
- Average age of current hospitalisations: 59
- Cases in ICU or HDU: 25
- Vaccination status of current hospitalisations (Northern Region only, excluding Emergency Departments): Unvaccinated or not eligible (50 cases / 14%); partially immunised <7 days from second dose or have only received one dose (9 cases / 2%); double vaccinated at least 7 days before being reported as a case (76 cases / 21%); Received booster at least 7 days before being reported as a case (98 cases / 27%); unknown (136 cases / 37%)
Cases
- Seven day rolling average of community cases: 13,218
- Seven day rolling average (as at Monday last week): 16,102
- Number of new community cases: 10,205
- Number of new community cases (PCR): 121
- Number of new community cases (RAT): 10,084
- Location of new community cases (PCR & RAT): Northland (407), Auckland (1,835), Waikato (878), Bay of Plenty (571), Lakes (267), Hawke’s Bay (454), MidCentral (531), Whanganui (249), Taranaki (357), Tairāwhiti (125), Wairarapa (92), Capital and Coast (745), Hutt Valley (390), Nelson Marlborough (398), Canterbury (1,664), South Canterbury (207), Southern (958), West Coast (76); Unknown (1)
- Number of new cases identified at the border: 33
- Number of active community cases (total): 92,505 (cases identified in the past 7 days and not yet classified as recovered)
- Confirmed cases (total): 701,986
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): 1,634
- Number of Rapid Antigen Tests reported total (last 24 hours): 18,818
- PCR tests rolling average (last 7 days): 2,840
- Number of Rapid Antigen Tests dispatched (last 7 days as of 4 April 2022): 4.3 million
1:10pm - The Ministry of Health data is yet to arrive. We'll bring it to you as soon as it is released.
12:55pm - Vaccine passes and mandates might soon be a thing of the past but an employment lawyer believes some businesses might keep them to make a statement.
Kathryn Dalziel told AM on Monday businesses can continue using vaccine passes as long as it doesn't breach the Human Rights Act.
"For some businesses who aren't supplying essential services, they have got to sit there and think about what are they selling and what they are doing," she said.
12:45pm - Auckland Council says vaccine passes will no longer be required at its sites and facilities from Tuesday. Employees will be encouraged to be fully vaccinated, but it will no longer be a requirement apart from in certain circumstances.
Mandatory passes and some vaccine mandates are being dropped from Monday night as the Government loosens COVID-19 restrictions. Individual employers can still operate vaccine passes if they choose to.
Auckland Council says it has done a review of its "overall approach to vaccination and changes to vaccination requirements for its staff, elected members and those that carry out work for us, including volunteers".
"I’m confident we have reached decisions that reflect what our risk assessment has told us, that are right for our people and our customers, and reflect where Tāmaki Makaurau, and New Zealand, is at with its coronavirus response," says chief executive Jim Stabback.
"Recent changes to the COVID-19 Protection Framework required us to carefully consider these changes now, and we’re prepared to do so again if other variants appear or we see an increase in risk to our people and the community."
12:35pm - While we wait for the Ministry of Health information, here's more on what will be discussed at the Cabinet meeting on Monday afternoon.
In short, hospitalisations are the main area of focus. While the Prime Minister did say it's possible some regions could move to orange as they see their hospitalisations decline, she also noted that "our hospital network often works with one another" across DHBs.
12:30pm - Kia ora, good afternoon and welcome to Newshub's live updates for Monday. We will shortly bring you the latest COVID-19 data from the Ministry of Health.
Cabinet is also meeting to review the current traffic light settings. Any move to orange for either the entire country or for specific regions will likely be announced by the Prime Minister at her post-Cab press conference at 4pm. We will be livestreaming that above.
