Wednesday December 22
There are 56 new community cases of Covid-19 today.
Of these, 33 are in Auckland, 6 in Waikato, 11 in Bay of Plenty, 4 in Lakes, 1 in Taranaki and 1 in Hutt Valley.
6 new cases of Omicron were detected in recent returnees in MIQ facilities, bringing the total number of international arrivals with the Omicron variant to 28.
COVID-19 continues to be detected in wastewater samples collected in Gisborne with the latest detection on 20 December 2021.
There are 51 people in hospital, with 7 of those people in intensive care or high dependency units.
The average age of people currently in hospital is 50.
Wastewater samples
Wastewater samples collected from the Hutt Valley on December 20 detected the Covid-19 virus but this is not unexpected given the case in Wellington today who is self-isolating in the area.
A separate wastewater detection was from a sample collected from Napier on December 20.
This is the third positive wastewater result from Napier in the past week, which may be due to undetected community transmission or a recently recovered case returning to the region shedding the virus.
There was also unexpected wastewater detection of Covid-19 in Whitianga on December 20, which may be due to undetected community transmission or a recently recovered case returning to the region shedding the virus, but is no longer infectious.
There also was an unexpected wastewater detection in Dargaville on December 20 after a previous positive detection on December 7.
Vaccinations and booster shots
94 percent of New Zealand's eligible population have had the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, and 90 percent have had a second dose.
South Canterbury district health board is expected to become the next district health board to hit the 90 percent fully vaccinated milestone later today.
Announced on Tuesday, the Government introduced shortening the period between the second and booster doses of the Pfizer vaccine from six months to four months.
This change comes into effect for walk-in vaccinations from January 5 and bookings can be made on here from January 17.
Parents and caregivers will be able to book vaccinations for 5 to 11-year-olds from January 17.
MIQ absconder returns
A person who discharged themselves from Auckland's Middlemore Hospital on Monday along with their child has voluntarily returned to the facility where they were completing their managed isolation.
They have seven days of their isolation still to complete.
Further tests have been carried out on both the parent and child.
Police will make inquiries into the incident to see if any further action is required.
Click here for a list of updated locations of interest.
Top Image: A Covid-19 vaccination centre in a New Zealand motorhome. Photo: Getty Images (File photo)
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