Sunday 24 October, 1pm

There are 80 new cases today - 77 in Auckland, 2 in Waikato and 1 in Northland. 

So far, 34 of the cases have been linked to the outbreak, including 16 identified as household contacts. The Northland case is also a close contact of one of the cases from the region announced yesterday. Overall, 46 cases from today are yet to be linked to previous ones, the Ministry of Health said.

Hospitalisations 

50 people are in hospital, with 4 in intensive care. All those in hospital for Covid-19 are in Auckland except 1 person. This individual is in Waikato. The Ministry has also released the average age of those in hospital: 44 years old.

South Island case

Today's case announcement, made via statement, comes after the South Island had its first positive case this outbreak. Confirmed yesterday, the person is isolating in Blenheim after flying from Rotorua on Thursday.  A sore throat after landing prompted the Covid test. The Ministry also said it believed the person is linked to cases in Te Awamutu.

Today's 80-case announcement also follows several days of triple-digit case counts. The total number of cases in this outbreak is now 2572. 

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