Wednesday June 1
There are 8,182 new cases of Covid-19 today, 13 people with the virus have died and there are 373 people in hospital.
Of these cases there are 223 in Northland, 2,534 in Auckland, 623 in Waikato, 245 in Bay of Plenty, 99 in Lakes, 208 in Hawke’s Bay, 335 in MidCentral, 105 in Whanganui, 234 in Taranaki, 45 in Tairāwhiti, 60 in Wairarapa, 716 in Capital and Coast, 286 in Hutt Valley, 334 in Nelson Marlborough, 1,322 in Canterbury, 146 in South Canterbury, 592 in Southern, 69 in West Coast, and 6 in unknown locations.
There are currently 48,236 active cases in the community.
The Ministry of Health defines active cases as those identified in the last seven days and not yet classified as recovered.
The seven-day rolling average of community case numbers today is 6,893 – last Wednesday, it was 7,308.
Since the pandemic started, the total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases is 1,165,498.
Dedicated pharmacists are now able to prescribe antiviral medicines as treatment for Covid-19
In a press release from Tuesday, the Ministry of Health's clinical chief advisor Andi Shirtcliffe said “increasing the range of prescribers will improve access to these medicines for a wider range of communities and get timely treatment to more of the people who are at risk of severe illness”.
Medicines added to the pharmacist prescriber medicine list include nirmatrelvir with ritonavir (Paxlovid) and molnupiravir (Lagevrio), which are already being prescribed by other prescribers in New Zealand. These can be taken orally at home.
Hospitalisations and Covid-19 related deaths
Thirteen people with Covid-19 have died, bringing the publicly-reported total to date to 1,185.
Of the people whose deaths are being reporting today, four were from the Auckland region, two were from Canterbury, and one each from Bay of Plenty, Tairāwhiti, Hawke’s Bay, Hutt Valley, Capital and Coast, Nelson Marlborough, and the Southern area.
One person was in their 40s, two were in their 70s, five were in their 80s and five were over 90.
Of these people, six were female and seven were male.
The 7-day rolling average of reported deaths is 14.
There are 373 people in hospital, with 8 of those people in intensive care or high dependency units.
The average age of people currently in hospital is 61.
Vaccinations
96.3% of New Zealand's eligible population have had the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, and 95.1% have had a second dose.
72.6% of eligible people have had their booster shot.
Testing
The number of PCR tests taken over the past 24 hours is 3,519 and the number of Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) that have been reported in the past 24 hours is 15,020.
If you take a RAT you must report the result, positive or negative. This can be done online through My Covid Record, or by calling 0800 222 478 between 8am and 8pm.
Top image: Man walking to mask on. Photo: Michael Madden-Smith/Re:
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