The latest COVID-19 figures show another 23 people with the virus have died, 692 remain in hospital while cases have climbed back to 14,120 - up from 10,205 on Monday.
It comes after the Government on Monday decided all of New Zealand would remain at the red traffic light setting.
It's frustrated many firms, with Business New Zealand boss Kirk Hope telling Newshub Late on Monday that people need to know the criteria for shifting down to orange.
Meanwhile, the latest COVID variant XE is already on the radar of health officials in New Zealand. Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield told AM that while it was yet to touch down here, it was something to keep an eye on.
What you need to know:
- COVID vaccine passes and mandates for most workforces were ditched overnight.
- All of New Zealand remains in the red traffic light setting.
- New Zealand recorded 14,120 new community COVID cases on Tuesday.
- Twenty-three additional deaths of people with COVID-19 were reported.
- Location of Tuesday's community cases: Northland (713), Auckland (2,351), Waikato (1,217), Bay of Plenty (742), Lakes (365), Hawke’s Bay (693), MidCentral (773), Whanganui (337), Taranaki (556), Tairāwhiti (178), Wairarapa (128), Capital and Coast (902), Hutt Valley (489), Nelson Marlborough (577), Canterbury (2,225), South Canterbury (279), Southern (1,456), West Coast (127), Unknown (12).
- There are 692 people in hospitals on Tuesday, including 30 in ICU.
- Locations of hospitalisations: Northland: 31; Waitemata: 105; Counties Manukau: 127; Auckland: 101; Waikato: 77; Bay of Plenty: 35; Lakes: 14; Tairāwhiti: 2; Hawke’s Bay: 28; Taranaki: 11; Whanganui: 4; MidCentral: 21; Wairarapa: 2; Hutt Valley: 15; Capital and Coast: 15; Nelson Marlborough: 13; Canterbury: 49; South Canterbury: 8; West Coast: 5; Southern: 29.
This article is no longer being updated - more on Newshub Live at 4:30pm, 6pm and at Newshub.co.nz.
1:06pm - Here are some more details on the latest COVID case figures:
- Seven day rolling average of community cases: 12,785
- Seven day rolling average (as at same day last week): 15,565
- Number of new community cases: 14,120
- Location of new community cases: Northland (713), Auckland (2,351), Waikato (1,217), Bay of Plenty (742), Lakes (365), Hawke’s Bay (693), MidCentral (773), Whanganui (337), Taranaki (556), Tairāwhiti (178), Wairarapa (128), Capital and Coast (902), Hutt Valley (489), Nelson Marlborough (577), Canterbury (2,225), South Canterbury (279), Southern (1,456), West Coast (127), Unknown (12)
- Number of new cases identified at the border: 48
- Number of active community cases (total): 89,477 (cases identified in the past 7 days and not yet classified as recovered)
- Confirmed cases (total): 716,151
1:04pm - Below is a full breakdown of COVID hospitalisations:
- Cases in hospital: total number 692 - Northland: 31; Waitemata: 105; Counties Manukau: 127; Auckland: 101; Waikato: 77; Bay of Plenty: 35; Lakes: 14; Tairāwhiti: 2; Hawke’s Bay: 28; Taranaki: 11; Whanganui: 4; MidCentral: 21; Wairarapa: 2; Hutt Valley: 15; Capital and Coast: 15; Nelson Marlborough: 13; Canterbury: 49; South Canterbury: 8; West Coast: 5; Southern: 29
- Cases in ICU or HDU: 30
- Vaccination status of current hospitalisations (Northern Region only, excluding Emergency Departments): Unvaccinated or not eligible (46 cases / 13.03%); partially immunised <7 days from second dose or have only received one dose (9 cases / 2.55%); double vaccinated at least 7 days before being reported as a case (72 cases / 20.4%); Received booster at least 7 days before being reported as a case (89 cases / 25.21%); unknown (137 cases / 38.81%)
1:02pm - The health ministry says the 23 COVID deaths reported include people who died in the past nine days.
"These deaths take the total number of publicly reported deaths with COVID-19 to 428 and the 7-day rolling average of reported deaths is 18.
"Of the people whose deaths we are reporting today, eight people were from the Auckland region, six from Waikato, two from Bay of Plenty, two from Lakes, one from Whanganui, two from the Wellington region, one from Canterbury and one from Southern.
"One person was in their 40s, five in their 60s, two in their 70s, eight in their 80s and seven were over-90."
The ministry says 10 of the people who died were women and 13 men.
1pm - There are 23 COVID-related deaths, 692 people in hospital and 14,120 cases to report on Tuesday, the Ministry of Health says.
"Although we have seen a slight increase in case numbers from yesterday, it's not unexpected as we generally see lower testing and reporting over the weekends. We are continuing to see a decline in the seven-day rolling average of cases," the ministry says.
More details to follow.
12:45pm - Earlier, the Director-General of Health said the new XE COVID variant was something to keep an eye on.
The new variant, which was potentially 10 percent more transmissible than Omicron, was being monitored by health authorities around the world.
"At the moment what we would want to look at for this variant, but also any new variant really, is what are the characteristics of it that would mean we would have to use some of the measures we've used in the past," Dr Bloomfield told AM.
"That includes some of the traffic light measures around stricter indoor limits, of course, we are retaining the use of masks - and I can't emphasise how important that is not just for Omicron but for those other winter illnesses that we know will start to come across the border."
12:30pm - Kia ora, good afternoon and welcome to Newshub's live COVID updates for Tuesday. The latest data from the Ministry of Health will be brought to you shortly - it's set to become available about 1pm.
